Walk A Little Straighter
by Miku Siran
Summary: Sequel to Blue Eyed Angel. When House crosses the line, Wilson takes desperate measures to help him. One twist of fate will bring House back into the arms of the woman he let slip away from him, but is there still a place for him there? Huddy
1. A Glimpse

Walk A Little Straighter

A Glimpse

Thanks to mj0621, mowrocks, DrusillaBraun, BlkDiamond, thevigilante15, house addict, HouseAddiction, RHSecretLove, and addicted2coffee.

Sergeant, whatever is so funny? I'm confused.

Disclaimer: I don't own House MD. I just like to play with the characters' lives because it's so much fun.

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Wilson gently knocked on House's apartment door. He hadn't seen House since House had been suspended. There was no answer, yet he could not shake off the sense that something was desperately wrong. He knocked again. He earned the same results. He banged on the door to no avail so he moved away from it and forced it open with all the weight in his body. It flung open, yet no one was in sight.

His ears registered a soft groan and he hurried to the bedroom to find his best friend laying on the floor. He had thrown up all over himself and was now gagging again as another wave of the foul stench of human vomit filled the room.

"Oh my God, House." Wilson exclaimed as he went to his side.

House motioned for him to leave as he threw up again. Wilson saw the empty bottle of Vicadin and the empty bottle of vodka lying right beside each other as if taunting him, telling him that House was unsaveable and dared him to try.

It sickened him to see such a respected doctor in such a state, when he should have known better. Wilson wanted to leave like he did last time, leave House there to wallow in his own mistakes and misery yet something kept him there, holding House's head as his body naturally disposed of the substance that had so dangerously poisoned it. That something was a woman, whose voice had never left Wilson, whose influence and final plead had never ceased to make themselves undeniable in his mind.

"Why are you here?" House demanded, when he could speak. "I thought you hated me in this state."

He tried to make his tone harsh, but his strength was drastically failing. His tone just came out pathetic, especially to his ears.

Wilson shrugged as he wet a towel and held it out to House. He gave House no answer, because he knew the answer would only throw House into a deeper depression than the one he was already drowning in. He did not need her name mentioned nor did he want to hear that she still cared enough to leave stern instructions of his care to the net between their bitter separation.

House slowly took the towel, studying Wilson closely. "You're not here because you care. You're here because you feel guilty."

"Believe what you want." Wilson said, tone on the borderline of angry. "But either way, I'm here, taking care of you, so deal with it."

He pulled out his stethoscope and timed House's heartbeat. It was starting to regain its usual rhythm, but Wilson knew that if he left House alone now, Cuddy would never forgive him. Perhaps Wilson knew that he, himself, still contained strong feelings toward the woman, but he would never admit it. Cuddy had made it clear it was House that was the center of her worry and concern, not him. He should have been glad that he didn't need it, but part of him wished she would show the same affection for him as she did House. Out of his care for her, for her peace of mind, he stayed, making sure House never took another pill or another drink for the rest of the night as his body began to regain its stability and purge itself of the poison he had injected in himself. And it was her face that remained in House's mind as he fought the urge to drown his misery the only way he knew how, with a bottle and drugs.

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She never had time to breathe or to think. At night, she fell into a dreamless sleep the moment she laid her head down from the sheer exhaustion of her life. The truth was…she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. A trip down memory lane would be more than she could handle, more than she could live with. She didn't need the reminders, the pain, or the grief that were so closely associated and just as numerous as the memories she so fondly held at PPTH.

The hectic routine of her life kept her busy, focused, and her mind away from the memories that still lingered in the back of her mind. She didn't give them the time or the chance to creep up onto her from behind. That would mean a momentary weakness, a state she could not afford to be in even for a millisecond.

"Mommy?" A soft voice whimpered, the sweetest voice Cuddy had ever heard, the sound of her own child calling her with love and innocence and childlike expectations.

"Yes sweetheart?" she cooed, picking her one year old daughter out of her crib, cradling her as if she were the most precious cargo in the world.

The child was too young to speak. Her words were limited to 'mommy', 'bottle', and 'poopy', but the child didn't always need words to communicate her needs for Cuddy, being the perfectionist that she was, had read every book she could find on childcare and memorized every line. She was dressed in soft pink baby clothes. She was bundled in a plushy pink blanket with a duck sewn on the front. On the corner were the letters JAC sewn onto it. Cuddy never told anyone, but Wilson was the only one in PPTH that knew she had given birth and the blanket was a gift from him. Her thoughts momentarily traveled to her friend and the cripple that always seemed to accompany her thoughts of PPTH.

The child gurgled and laughed, pulling her from her thoughts. Cuddy felt a smile fill her face as she gently kissed her daughter's forehead. The child only wanted attention, attention that only Cuddy could offer and the only attention that Jessica would accept.

"Jesse!" she cooed, lifting the child up in the air and making silly faces at her, making her giggle harder. Cuddy laughed in return, and played with her daughter until the doorbell rang.

She shifted the child onto her hip and opened it to Stacy's face.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, opening the door further to allow the lawyer access.

"I brought coffee. I mean you've had your baby, you back on the caffeine?" she asked, handing her a warm cup.

Cuddy laughed. "Oh yeah," she replied, taking the cup.

She could not believe her fortune. Of course her life was missing pieces, but she had found pieces she had previously lost. When she had moved to work at Mercy Hospital, she had found out that Stacy had transferred there as well so it was not like she was totally friendless and being Lisa Cuddy, she had formed new friendships that were more stable than her friendships with House and Wilson had been. Stacy was now aunt to her daughter and once again, Cuddy's confident.

"How's my little pipsqueak?" Stacy teased, tickling Jessica.

The baby gurgled as Cuddy handed her over into Stacy's arms. She went led the way into the living room and ripped open the bag of Oreos sitting on her coffee table. Girl's night out, Friday night tradition. Another thing that Cuddy did to take her mind off the bitter recollections left back in New Jersey.


	2. Turning Away

Chapter Two

Turning Away

Thanks to HOUSEM.D. FanForever, mj0621, BlkDiamond, PJo4ever, starstacey, Boys Don't Cry, addicted2coffee, DrusillaBraun, thevigilante15, RHSecretLove, DemonDaughter, HouseAddiction, girlwithwingsoffire, and house addict for their reviews! Thanks!

Sergeant, Wilson liked Cuddy ever since Finding Judas and for the sake of drama. Also I think these three are like the three musketeers and since Cuddy is the only girl, it makes sense that they both want her.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I make no money off of this. If I did, then I would be writing a whole lot more often, but sadly it doesn't pay the bills.

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To Wilson, this could not go on. It was the second night in a row that he had found House hunkered over the toilet expelling everything that had entered his system since the fateful night that Cuddy had left. Wilson hated the situation, but hated House's way of dealing even more. He knew he had to call in a favor, one he knew would lead to nothing but pain for more than one party.

House was dozing as Wilson slipped out, pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number that only he knew.

A click as the phone as picked up.

"Cuddy." A crisp female voice broke the silence.

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She had dreaded the call from Wilson, knowing that sooner or later it would arrive. She tucked the phone under her ear as she placed a gurgling baby into her crib.

"What do you need Wilson?" she asked, using his last name out of habit, before she even realized it.

"It's House. He's ODed two nights in a row." Wilson said, sounding completely exhausted. "I don't know if it's by accident or if he's trying to kill himself, but he's been going downhill fast ever since you left and I can't pick him up."

"Wilson…" Cuddy started softly. "I can't."

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Wilson almost hit the door in frustration. As much as he didn't want to care about House, he sort of did. The limping idiot was his best friend and Cuddy's pleading was still solid in his mind, even though at the moment, Cuddy seemed to care less.

"Lisa, Cameron's been trying to get him back on his feet and it's not working. He handles cases as if they were a bother and they don't interest him anymore. He's been suspended for going back behind the new Dean's authority and did I mention? HE'S OVERDOSE TWICE WITHIN A PERIOD OF 48 HOURS!" Wilson exclaimed.

A silence followed his outburst then broken by a child's wail. He could hear Cuddy softly try to comfort her daughter with gentle words of comfort and a few insults about stupid men thrown into it, almost making him smirk. Obviously Cuddy was teaching her child how to live in a man's world early on in life.

"Cuddy please. I mean are you the same person that left? The Lisa Cuddy I knew would never let her friend suffer this way." He said. "Come back just for a little while. Just for a few days…it might…"

Cuddy cut him off, firmly, briskly, and with a touch of regret. "I can't Wilson. As much as I care about him, as much as I still try to save his ass out of habit, I can't this time around. I'm still me but this situation is completely different."

Before he could inject another word, she was finishing up what she had to say.

"It isn't about me or him anymore. It's Jesse. I can't just pick up and leave, not with a baby in the house. I'm sorry Wilson, take care of him as best as you know how, but I can't be there."

With that, the call was over. Wilson started at his cell phone for a moment before walking back into House's apartment, finding him awake and staring at the oncologist.

"Girlfriend?" House asked sarcastically.

Wilson didn't answer though his mind murmured, _I wish._

He threw House a duffel bag. "Get packed. We're going on vacation, away from this place that you've made your own personal ER."

House stared at him. "Wait, you're saying we need to go on a vacation? Jimmy, boy I'm not sure I run that way."

"House, you're suspended. You've overdosed on God knows what two days in a row. Next time you might end up killing yourself. I've got quite a few vacation days I haven't used. You need to get out of New Jersey and away from these memories and I'm the only one that seems to be able to go with you, much less handle you." Wilson said.

House didn't move.

Wilson sighed deeply. "House, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I haven't seen a situation more dire than the one you're in now."

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Hanging up was the second hardest thing she had ever done. Leaving was obviously the hardest, but now turning away from House in his time of need tore her to pieces. She ran her fingers through her curly black hair. She looked down at the little bundle smiling up at her. She knew she made the right choice, it wasn't the easiest choice nor was it the hardest, but she knew she could not bring Jesse into an environment with House on drugs and barfing in the bathroom. It was simple, but it wasn't easy.

Her maternal protectiveness and instinct told her to never subject her daughter into that environment and she obeyed it. No one ever said it was smart nor did they say it was rational, but it was her instinct and she had never regretted any time she had chosen to follow that little voice in her head. She tucked her child in and then made her way into her own bedroom, pulling out an old photo album as she curled up under her covers.

College years with House. Working with House. Pictures were worth a thousand words and a thousand memories. The last page was her favorite. It was his college graduation. She was a few years younger than him so she was there as a spectator and a support to him. At that time, they had been dating, and life for her had never felt so complete.

They were laughing, eye glittering with joy and the emotion of the moment. His arm was firmly wrapped around her waist as if making it clear to the world that she was his and his alone. A single tear escaped the usual control of Lisa Cuddy and fell. Years later, his arm was no longer around her, but she knew she was just as much his as she was back then.

He was still an angel in her mind. The one that had carried her further than anyone else ever had before. He taught her to think for herself, to take crap off of nobody, and to kick back if someone ever tried to cross her. She owed him those life lessons as much as she owed him her love. She had long since paid those dues, but old habits died hard.

He was an angel with no halo and one wing in the fire. She knew that and she accepted it. He lived left of living right and he had come so close so many times to going way to far. She prayed for him endlessly and hoped that if no prayer of hers ever came true at least her faith would make sure that someone up there would also have faith in him.

She closed her eyes and wished for the same thing she had wished for ever since she met him. He was after all an angel, fallen and scarred as he may be, but an angel nonetheless. An angel with no halo and one wing in the fire.

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Dr. Cuddy was running late as she made her way into Mercy Hospital. She ran up the stairs instead of waiting on an elevator until she reached her office. She paused for moment staring at the words that were in the same font yet held a completely different meaning than in her old office.

_Lisa Cuddy M.D_

_Cardiology _

She sat down and faced the three doctors she had handpicked for herself. The three best cardiologists in New York to help in the overworked department. Heart disease was the number one killer in the United States after all. She smiled to herself. She felt almost like House, running a group of ducklings into the ground, the only difference was, Cuddy was a lot less bitter, but just as sarcastic and bit more of a perfectionist.

"Okay, first case?" she asked. "Time to divide and conquer. We got about 20 cases today and we need to find a way to get through them all so plan to work late. Stevens, I want you to take the first three. I've glanced over them, two have chronic heart disease and another needs heart surgery, which I will do myself."

Meredith Stevens objected, "Some of us have a life outside of the hospital you know."

Cuddy gave her a sarcastic smile. "Oh yes, I do know that. I have a one year old daughter at home, currently being watched by a very expensive nanny. I know the definition of having a life. But we're here because we want to save lives right? Not for the fat paychecks that are just added bonuses." She sent a very meaningful glance around the room to Stevens and then the other two doctors Cara Burke and Preston Sloan.

Stevens was silent.

Cuddy shifted her attention. "Sloan, I want you on the Smith case. It's a follow up, just checking with you to make sure her surgery went well and the next two are waiting for your diagnosis, because the clinic doctors have established that it is definitely a heart problem so that means it's our department's job to fix it. Burke, I need you to check with the last case. It's going to take you a while, but the patient has massive internal bleeding and a clot in the heart from a car accident. You're gonna have to figure out how to fix both. Just a hint, blood thinners will kill him. He's also a diabetic."

They filed out, each carrying at least three blue folders under their arms. Cuddy, herself, made her way to the first exam room, pulling on a white lab coat as she went. She had taken three of the cases in the center of the pile, not yet reading the names or the symptoms.

She pushed open the door of the first exam room and then froze. She was face to face with the last person she had ever wanted to see again. The emotions hit her like a wave and she fought to catch her breath. The memories were no match for the anger that she felt, the feeling of injustice at the turmoil this man had caused for her. The unfairness and cruel way he had treated her in his sick twisted game of revenge. She

She forced herself to stay professional. She was after all a respected doctor and she would be mature and objective, even if he could not remain that way.

"Dr. Cuddy?" Tritter exclaimed in surprise, only to be consumed be a wheeze as he jerked on the bed, clutching his chest.

She rushed to his side and pulled open a drawer, pulling out codeine and inserting .1 mm into his bloodstream. He fell back and started to breathe more normally.

"Dr. Cuddy, looks like wherever I go I can't escape New Jersey." He said with a mirthless smile.

She chose to ignore the small talk and got straight down to business. "How long have you had chest pain?" she asked, in a no nonsense tone, reading and jotting down notes in the file.

"A couple weeks." He said. "I've had a few heart attacks in the past month. How are you doing?"

Cuddy slammed his case folder onto the counter and turned to face him. "How the hell do you think I am? You took my job. You tried to prosecute me for perjury. You have some serious nerve to even ask."

"That perjury charge never came to be though." He muttered.

She rolled her eyes. "That's only because I heard about your intentions and had it dealt with first hand."

"It's not like you're the only one who lost your job. My life's been hell too. I mean I got this heart condition and I have to deal with all this other crap going on in my life."

"Forgive me for not bawling in sympathy." Cuddy said sarcastically. "Frankly I don't give a damn about the hardships in your life. Karma is a bitch and you've done nothing to deserve my pity or sympathy."

She regathered her files and started for the door. He opened his mouth, but shut it again when she turned to face him.

"I'm scheduling you for an MRI, I have an idea of what your condition is, but I can't be sure until tests confirm it. Until then, you'll be staying here, where your heart condition will be monitored closely."

He was studying her hard. "How do I know you're not just gonna kill me?" he asked seriously.

She returned his stare, just as hard and with a touch of icy dislike.

"I'm a doctor. My job is to save lives and unlike you, I don't abuse my profession." She said as she left the room.

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"Where the hell are we going?" House whined as Wilson threw his duffel back into the trunk of the car.

"Manhattan. Somewhere where you can get some mental therapy."

"You sound almost reasonable, time to up my medication."

"Last time you did that, you almost killed yourself." Wilson pointed out.

"At least I have a positive attitude about my destructive habits." He announced.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "I have an old friend I need to visit and Foreman has agreed that a change of scenery might be good for you mentally. Anyway, it's not like you have anything else better to do."

"Well actually even though it looks like I'm not doing anything, on a cellular level I'm actually quite busy." He retorted.

"House, you're not getting out of this. It's doctor's orders so yes you are going to Manhattan and out of New Jersey. It'll be good for you." Wilson said, sounding firm for the first time.

He would never admit it, but he was also going for an entirely different reason, a selfish one. Cuddy was in Manhattan and as much as he wanted her to fix House, he wanted her for himself as well.

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_I would never admit to Wilson that every overdose I've had so far was on purpose. I can't get her out of my mind and well, the walls are finally closing in. It started with me taking a few more pills than usual. I thought it would numb my emotional pain as well as the physical pain, since every time I hurt mentally, my leg pain increases. Medically it was stupid. In my logic is was right. _

_Well it didn't work. So I tried alcohol. Big mistake, but I thought my body could handle it. Then I had my first overdose. Cuddy came to help me. Wilson walked away, but Cuddy was there. Thank God, she probably saved my life. Now she's gone again and well, my overdoses are not gonna bring her back. My job was my life and now I can't go back to work for a month. Short period of time I know, but not in my world. That seems like forever. _

_Cuddy's gone. My job is a bore. I have nothing to live for. If Wilson hadn't been there to stop me I would have flown off into the unknown, or just cease to exist. I wonder if I had died would Cuddy have even remembered that I existed? Would she think 'good riddance'? I've messed up her life and for the first time in my life, I feel guilty. _

_Now I know why she cries at night and stays awake over her guilt. She deals with it and moves on. I don't have that training. _

_I can't move on and I can't deal with it. _

_So it consumes me. They say no one ever died of a broken heart, but what about a guilty one?_

_Am I gonna be the first to find out? _

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Wilson slipped out of the car for a moment to fill it back up with gas. They were in New York now after driving for two hours. Another twenty minutes would bring them into Manhattan. Wilson had no idea where he was taking House, just somewhere far away from PPTH. Wilson had a friend up in Westchester and thought maybe a few days with House in the open air would be good for him. At least that was what Foreman had suggested.

House was sleeping when he got out of the car, but when he came back in, he was the polar opposite.

House was shaking violently and seizing. He turned to his side and threw up blood.

"Holy shit!" Wilson yelled in surprise. Then he spotted something lying beside his friend. "You idiot." He muttered softly.

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Cuddy was just passing the ER when a nurse ran up to her almost frantic.

"Dr. Cuddy, we just had an overdose called in and the ambulance with the patient is on its way, but all the doctors are preoccupied with that multiple gun fight that happened in Harlem." She said.

Cuddy was already heading into the operation room. "I can handle the overdose." She said, handing Tritter's file to the nurse. "I need you to get an MRI on this patient and page me when you have the results."

The nurse nodded and Cuddy disappeared into the emergency room.

One of the attendees was washing up when Cuddy joined him.

"Got any info on the incoming patient?" Cuddy asked.

The attendee shook his head. "Just a name, Gregory House."

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Author's Note:

Suspense! Will House make it? Will he kill himself? What is Tritter doing in Manhattan? Will Cuddy be able to save House? Will he be grateful or angry? GASP! SO MUCH DRAMA! Ok I'm done. That was a really long chapter and I can't wait til inspiration hits me again to write more. I've been making House comics. Okay only one page. If you want to see it, just ask. It's a Huddy comic, though these take forever to make. Lol. Enjoy this chapter!

And I'm sorry if you guys are getting impatient. I promise the next chapter will be when House sees Cuddy again. And then we have a zillion Huddy moments after that. Both sad ones and happy ones and finally they just might end up together, if life is good. HEHE. I'm sorry I'm really hyper and I'm very sorry that they still haven't met yet, but I needed to play out all the details as to how House ends up in New York first and bring a lot of the elements together. There will be a happy ending, that I can promise.


	3. Time of Death

Chapter Three

Time of Death

Thanks to PaulaAbdulChica2007, Kris the fanficaholic, DrusillaBraun, HouseholicMD, nurit, addicted2coffee, RHSecretLove, Boys Don't Cry, mjo621, girlwithwingsoffire, and BlkDiamond for their reviews. Thanks so much. This is what keeps me going!

Sergeant, if House kills Tritter even by accident, that's manslaughter and he could serve jail time. And we don't want him in jail.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in House.

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Cuddy felt chills tremble down her spine and it was all she could do to keep herself from losing her always present professionalism right then and there. Her body felt cold as if she were disconnected from it, but her voice was controlled and calm when she immediately began to order her ER assistants around, making sure everything was prepared for what she already knew to be a drug overdose.

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Wilson barged in with House, yelling that he was a doctor and that he could help. In his state, however, the ER nurses highly doubted it and it was highly against procedure.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you are going to have to leave." The nurse said, pulling on Wilson's arm as the paramedics rolled House into the ER.

He shoved past her and into the ER. He froze when the doctor turned toward them. Her gaze caught his and held. He stared back into the deep soulful eyes of Lisa Cuddy. The moment lasted for barely a second before the nurse got hold of his arm again. He wrenched his arm away from her.

"Wilson!" Cuddy said, her voice rose only slightly.

Like so many times before, she immediately his full unchanging attention.

"It's okay. I've got him taken care of. As soon as there's a change, good or bad, you'll know. I promise." She said her voice soothing.

His shoulders dropped as he followed the nurse out, only pausing to look at her one more time. He was no longer in her orbit of important things, however. Already she was bent over House, tending to him with gentle hands that would save him, again.

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Cuddy gently slipped a stomach tube into House's mouth and allowed it to extend all the way down his trachea through his esophagus and into his stomach.

"Start it." She said, as the machine began to pump what she already knew to be Vicadin out of his system.

The heart monitor began to beep furiously.

"BP dropping. He's seizing." she yelled, two fingers on his neck, feeling his pulse. Her body was now against his, holding him down as he thrashed, trying desperately to keep him from hurting himself or anyone else.

The monitor beeped louder as his movements became weaker.

"Crash cart now!"

The intern that was helping hesitated. He was watching the vomit that was covering House's shirt and the smell was making him sick. He stumbled back at step. Wrong move.

Cuddy lost her temper. "GET THE DAMN CRASH CART OR ELSE THIS IS YOUR LAST NIGHT HERE!" She roared.

He immediately snapped back to his senses. The paddles were in her hands by the time he registered what he had done.

"Clear." She said, shocking him.

Nothing.

She tried it again. Nothing. And then a third and fourth time. Silence in the room except for the beeping of the machines. Tears formed in her eyes. She would not allow it to happen.

"Time of death." Said a voice from the doorway. The usual ER doctor, finally finished with the gunshot wounds.

"No." She said, trying again. She changed from the paddles to just simple CPR, pushing on his chest, pleading him to wake up.

The doctor put a hand on her shoulder. "Cuddy, time of death." He said again.

She shook her head and tried again. This time her persistence paid off. The monitor came to life and so did House.

The doctor was amazed as he said, "BP rising."

Cuddy felt the tears begin to fall as relief flooded her body. However, her habit of iron control over her emotions once again returned once her fear faded.

"Finish the gastric lavage." She said, almost wearily. "And give him the reversal drug for Vicadin. He should be fine."

No one could tell how relieved she was to say those words. Nor did they notice how her hand lingered on his as she walked away or that she stopped at the doorway to gaze at him one more time, a single tear trickling down her cheek. The only thought on their minds was, 'how did she know he took Vicadin?'

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Wilson was on his feet the moment Cuddy stepped out of the ER.

"How is he?" he asked, concerned in spite of himself.

"He'll live." She said. "He crashed though. Took us multiple attempts to bring him back."

She never mentioned that it was only her that tried so hard to save him. She didn't want to admit that she was so emotionally attached to the limping bastard and if she admitted that she cared enough to try so hard, she knew she would admit the depths of her feelings for him.

"I didn't know what happened. I left him alone for a minute." He said.

"A minute was all he needed." She replied gently. "But you couldn't have known he would make the same mistake again."

"I should have. This is the third time. I think he's trying to kill himself." Wilson said, rubbing his forehead, the strain of the past days etched firmly into the creases around his eyes.

"Well in this case, the third time is not the charm and I'll do my best to keep him on his feet." She said softly. "That I promise."

Wilson leaned in close to her, so close their lips could almost touch. She grew uncomfortable as she moved away, surprise on her face.

"Sorry, it's just…I missed you." He said softly.

She was speechless, but swallowed the lump in her throat. "I missed you too." She said, then added, "But as a friend."

The ER doctor had finished pumping House's stomach and miraculously, he was awake and demanding.

"The patient wants you Dr. Cuddy. He was very firm about that."

"Thank you Dr. Rogers, I'll be right in." Cuddy said. Then turned to Wilson. "We'll work this out later okay?"

She didn't give him a chance to say anything as she more quickly than was necessary ducked into House's room. He was left without words and more hurt than was shown on his face.

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He felt the pain sear through his body from the first shock, but then the rest were merely a prick on his skin. He was watching a figure bent over him, trying desperately to keep him in the body that had caused him so much pain, the mind that never ceased to think, brood, and then tear itself apart at all the bitterness in it. He was unable to see her face, but for a moment, he hated her. She was pulling him back and he didn't want to return to that physical prison.

He fought her, but she was determined. Together it became a battle of wills. He wanted to wrench her away from him from his position behind her, but found his hands passing through her. It made no difference. Then she turned to ditch the paddles and he saw her.

It was no doubt, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the source of his pain and his happiness. How ironic it was for the woman that could undo him completely was also the same one that could piece him back together. Her hands were then on his chest, pushing on his heart and he saw the tears form. She pushed again and that was all the incentive he needed. He granted her plea and allowed himself to be pulled back into that physical barrier. The first thing he felt was the warmness in her touch.

He had always wanted to see her once again. Wanted, but not hoped. Hope was for fools in his mind and that nothing would be brought by it. He hadn't expected to see her again under such circumstances, however. He did not want to see the disappointment in her eyes when she knew how he had tried to take the coward's way out, or the anger that he knew would be etched in every line of her face when she raged at him for being so reckless. Still he wanted to see her. He wanted it more than any drug he had ever tasted or felt. She was the one addiction that he could never get over.

Now he was awake and he knew she would come when he asked for her. She always did. She always saved him and he knew she was still his angel, still watching over him.

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"Hey" she said softly as she came to his side, mentally counting to ten. Now was not the time to lose her temper and to rage at him. The aftermath of such an outburst would do more damage than that had already been done.

He smiled weakly up at her, the expression taking years off his face. She was as he remembered her. Her dark curly hair fell past her shoulders and her deep blue eyes looked straight at him and then passed through him as if she could read every thought and comprehend every emotion. In them, he also saw tightly controlled rage. No disappointment, just rage.

He, however, looked very different to her. His face was lined with creases that told her he had more stress than was good for him. Additional evidence to that was the grayness that now peppered his dark hair. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes telling her that he hadn't slept in ages. He was more scruffy than usual and she could tell he had let himself slip past that barrier that always kept him from crossing the line. Guilt told her that that barrier had been her.

"You look good." He said. "Nice to see that you still dress like a woman. Blouse is still screaming it."

She smirked. This was the House she knew. Never tossed a chance to tease her away.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I am a woman."

"Believe me I've noticed." He said softly.

Silence followed as he realized how close he had come to spilling his wailing guts out to her. He pulled himself back.

She wanted answers. "How is it back in New Jersey?" she asked.

"Less flashy without you." He said with a soft chuckle.

She rolled her eyes. He was never going to give her a straight answer. He knew she wanted to know how the new Dean was treating the hospital, why House overdosed so many times, how the patients were, and a bunch of other things about her former place of residence.

She must have given him that look because suddenly he was ranting in an more indirect manner about how things really were.

"The new Dean's worse than you. She's a highstrung lap dog. Sorta like me, only bossier. The ducklings have only killed, hmm…let's round it down; make them feel better. Maybe ten or eleven patients without me. Wilson's slept with every nurse in the building and will probably sleep with anything that has a pulse. And I have been paying hookers every night cause I don't get the satisfaction from watching your funbags anymore at work." He said.

She almost laughed, but bit her tongue. He would be pleased with himself, with or without her encouragement. Her pager beeped and she moved onto her feet. There were questions that were left unasked and unanswered, but she didn't need to ask him to know that he had thought he had hit rock bottom and then only recently found out that there was still a long way to go.

She would bring up the why later. Not now, not while he was still so weak. He knew she would ask him and she knew that he knew. They were starting that back and forth dance again.

"I have to get back to work. I'm just a call away if you ever need me." She said.

She started for the door, but felt a hand on her wrist. She turned back to see House staring at her. The look in his eyes frightened her as well as warmed her. Her anger left her. She knew it was return later once she got the lab results of his blood, but for the moment all was forgotten except the feel of his skin on hers. They stayed like that for a moment, communicating, but not saying a word. Finally he let her go. She smiled at him.

"I'll be back." She promised. And he knew she would keep her word.

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"We need help." Cameron stated as she blew her bangs out of her face. "We need House."

"Great, let's just call him up and wait for him to stop throwing up long enough for us to tell him the symptoms." Foreman retorted sarcastically.

"Foreman's right, we can cry to Daddy every time we hit a wall." Chase commented as he flipped through a heavy medicine resource book, hoping for some brilliant breakthrough triggered by the fine print on the page.

"Okay, tell me what the hell describes a sickness where one side of the body is larger than the other and the patient has blue eyes, and not by the pretty blues that are normal. I mean the whole damn eyeball." Cameron exclaimed.

"Maybe it's genetic." Chase commented.

"Or maybe it's bacterial."

"Or maybe we have no idea." Cameron argued. "We need help. We can't just let this patient get worse while we're waiting to have a brilliant idea drop out of the sky."

"We can't reach him!" Foreman yelled. 

"We could try!" Cameron shot back.

"Guys!" Chase yelled. "Let's list the symptoms and do tests on everything that it could be, before we go barge in on House puking out his intestines." He added more calmly.

The other two resolved to mutter darkly under their breaths. Chase caught the words _dependent puppy _and _cocky idiot_ as they moved to sit down at the table. Chase pulled out the marker.

_Uneven physical proportions_

_Blue eye membrane_

_Bent fingers_

_Coffee color patches on skin_

They stared at the list. It was barely a help, though now they could see that their case was extremely strange. Whatever it was, it was nothing under the category common illnesses that you see everyday. Chase chewed on the back of his pen. He wished this whole thing was over. He wanted House back and to stay back. That meant Cuddy had to come back as well. He put his face into his hands.

Cameron was shaking her head, making her brown curls flop in every direction. "We need House."

"We need tests and for you to grow up." Foreman retorted. "Let's get the tests and see if it brings up anymore symptoms."

"Great so you think a breakthrough will just fall out of the sky." Cameron stated.

"No." Chase answered, to her surprise instead of Foreman. "In the law of physics that's impossible."

She rolled her eyes as she followed them out, making a note to herself to pay a visit to House's apartment that very night.

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As she promised she was back by his side that very night. Only now she had a sleeping child in her arms. She had quickly run home after shift and relieved the nanny and brought her daughter here. She held the baby close as she listened to the soft breathing of both House and Jesse. She pulled up a chair and planned to stay the night and leave before House woke up.

She kissed Jesse on the forehead and then leaned back in the chair. Looking at House, she froze, then looked back at Jesse. The folder which held the donor number on it had not given a name to the donor. Now she knew who it was. The likeness between them was too similar to be ignored. Jesse had Cuddy's darker more curly hair, but the shape of her stubborn mouth and the almond shape of her eyes were exactly like his. She knew that her daughter was also his daughter. She was a bond, a living breathing bond that they would never be able to break.

Confusion had just add more itself into Cuddy's life as she debated whether or not telling him he had a daughter would be the best course of things. She would do a test to make sure the next day, but telling him. That would be difficult. Though the fear was not enough to move her from her position by his side.

Soon her worried mind was lulled into sleep by the comforting sound of House's even breath and the warmness of the child she loved so much clinging onto her shirt with a small yet tight grip.

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Author's Note:

How did you guys like that? There was a very fluffy Cuddy moment right there, though I tried to throw in some smart ass comments that House is so famous for in there. I don't think I did that well with that, it just seemed to end up as more of a sweet scene than a snarky scene. I hope that's still okay. Enjoy! This is so much fun, but I wished my schedule permitted me more time to spend on my fics.


	4. Bulletproof

Chapter Four-

Bulletproof

Thanks to FriendsHolic, mj0621, HouseAddiction, RHSecretLove, DrusillaBraun, girlwithwingsoffire, starstacey, PaulaAbdulChica2007, gabiroba, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, LadyEmerald, and BlkDiamond for their reviews!

Sergeant, I really have no idea. I'm not a science major remember?

Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to House. Though it would be a really awesome present.

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House stirred slowly feeling the presence of someone beside him. He opened one eye before opening the other. Cuddy was fast asleep in a chair by his bedside. He raised his eyebrow to find a bundle of blankets in her arms, its contents stirring slightly. He shifted his weight and her eyes jerked open. The bundle greeted the morning with a wail.

Gently she cooed softly and rocked it back and forth, saying soft comforts the whole time until the bundle of a child's wails turned into content gurgles.

"What is that thing?" he mumbled, sleepiness still written on his face.

"This thing is a baby." She replied pointedly.

"Yeah, but what is it doing here?" he asked.

"Because she can't be home alone." She replied, a little shaky.

She hadn't planned for him to find out this way about her child. She had planned to stay the night and then have Jesse in her office for the nanny to pick up by the time House woke up, but the night had caught up with her. Being in the same room as the two people in the world she cared about most had quieted her ever working mind and she had fallen asleep, against her will and wishes. Now she would have to deal with the consequences.

"Why do you have her?" he prodded further.

She knew she could avoid it no longer. "Because I'm her mother." She stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world, using that as a tool to hide her nervousness.

He stared at her as if she had grown another head. Internally he was trying to wrap his mind around how she could have ended up pregnant. His first thought was adoption, though adoption agencies did not usually give children to single mothers that were work-a-holics like Cuddy.

She didn't offer an explanation, forcing him to delve deeper into her private life. Something he knew she hated, but amused him.

"Not adoption. And I don't think it's marriage because you have no ring on your finger, so what…kidnapping?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes at him, but secretly glad that he was well enough to resort to his old tricks.

"No, she's really mine."

He reached up toward her and pulled the blanket aside to feast his eyes upon a rosy cheeked little girl with blue eyes that mirrored his own only without any trace of bitterness, all innocent and childlike.

She was his daughter, no question about it. She had his eyes, his mouth. Any father who looked upon their child for the first time would have known. He felt a stir in his heart followed by an overwhelming sense of fear. He stared at the little thing and then turned away.

"What's her name?" he asked, slowly.

"Jesse." Cuddy replied just as cautiously, unsure of how to react to House. She expected him to be either happy or mad. At the moment, he was neither.

"That's a boy's name. It should be little demon or something like that if you're gonna give her a bad name." he challenged.

She rolled her eyes. Typical House. "She's not a monster or anything from the Underworld." She muttered.

Silence followed her comment. House was watching Jesse, and Jesse was watching House and Cuddy was watching them both.

"She's mine isn't she?" House asked.

"Biologically? Or legally?" Cuddy asked, not even aware her tone came out more harsh than she meant it to. She wanted House to say something, do something, anything, anything that didn't confuse her.

He didn't answer just gave her a look and like so many times before, she gave in.

"Biologically, yes she's yours. I have no tests to confirm it, but I'm sure she's yours." Cuddy said.

He looked away and she saw his hand grip his covers tightly. She knew then that he didn't want this child. He didn't want the responsibility and it would have been kinder to lie to him. Tell him the child was someone else's, anyone else's she didn't have to be creative.

"It was from the donor that you gave me. "Your damn specimen was sitting in the fucking freezer! So why are you backing out now?" Cuddy demanded, losing her temper.

Her child added her discontentment with a scream. Cuddy hoisted the child onto her hip and lowered her voice.

"Tell me why the hell you did it."

He hesitated, but Cuddy had that look in her eye. Usually she would let him get away with a lot. Glares would be exchanged, but there was a certain one of her glares that left no room for argument, not from House, not from anyone and at the moment, she had that look in the eye.

"Because I didn't think you would do it. Not after what I said, and then the crazy situation! I didn't think you would be that stupid!" he yelled at her, unsure why he was yelling.

Maybe it was him detoxing. Maybe it was the fact that a consequence of not thinking one of his decisions through and it finally really came down to something he could not just simply limp away from that terrified him. He wasn't sure, but something made him snap and he took it out on the only one within range. The only one that saw him…saw through him and knew his ways by heart.

"I didn't think you would be so careless as to subject a child to your havoc of a lifestyle!" he continued unable to stop himself. "I did it to make me feel like I was helping without actually helping!"

She was glaring at him. He could have sworn he saw a glimmer of hatred, or pure dislike flashing in those cold blue eyes, but her attention turned to Jesse too quickly to be sure. When Jesse was quiet, Cuddy spoke, her voice spoke decibels, but barely rose above a whisper.

"House, thanks for telling me that now."

He looked at her almost confused. She didn't move, but glared at him, seeing him through different eyes.

"Thanks for not disappointing me. I knew it was a bad idea to trust you and my instincts were right. Thanks for letting me know that my own intuition was not wrong." She said, voice clipped and polite.

With that, she was gone, walking quickly, as fast as she could without looking like she was fleeing from the heartless man lying in the room. He was left staring at the door shutting, closing off his view of her as she disappeared behind the cursed wood. He didn't see the tears that were threatening to fall or know the effort she put in to keep from showing her weakness to the people who worked with her. He didn't see that and he was glad he didn't.

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Stacy was waiting for Cuddy in her office when Cuddy stormed in, a mess of tears, baby, and pure anger.

"Lisa! What happened?" she asked.

Cuddy put Jesse in the playpen in her office, wiping away furious tears as she answered, "House! He's always the problem. Even here, I can't get away from him!"

Stacy put both hands on her shoulders. "Lisa, breathe, in and out and tell me what he did." She said. "And when I said what happened? I meant what did House do?"

"He's just being the same as always, a complete bastard." She exclaimed.

"When is he ever not? You just brush it off and then give it back as good as you get. You usually don't react like this unless he did something very bad." Stacy pointed out.

"He doesn't want Jesse. He thinks I made a mistake having her. He didn't think I would take the donor." She ranted. "I mean it was so much better that I not know that he's the father. Right now there's so much paperwork I have to handle. I need him to forfeit rights and God knows he won't make that easy for me. He won't sign them just to piss me off."

Stacy couldn't argue with that. She racked her brain for any comforting words to tell her best friend, but found none. The truth was, when it came to Gregory House, he was as unpredictable as a coma patient's life.

Cuddy continued her rant. "You know it doesn't matter so much to me. My feelings aren't the least bit hurt, but to reject your own daughter? What the hell is wrong with that man? Does he have no sense of guilt or at least some sort of affection? Not to mention, how can he be so cocky to actually believe that he could predict my movements? And now he feels like he has the right to tell me that I made a mistake? Bullshit!"

Stacy let her let off steam. It was the only thing she could have done for Cuddy at the moment. When that girl was pissed, she was pissed and everyone had better dive out of her way before she started using unsuspecting victims for verbal target practice.

"What are you gonna do about this?" Stacy asked after Cuddy had finished.

Cuddy sighed. "Get the papers drawn up Stacy. Either he takes responsibility and actually becomes a part of Jesse's life, or he waives all rights to her. I won't have it any other way."

"What about your peace of mind?" Stacy asked softly. "Do you still love him?"

Cuddy looked at the floor, her breath still slightly heavy from yelling. "I'm not sure." She murmured. "I'm not sure of anything right now."

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Wilson saw Cuddy storm out of House's room and into her office, footsteps quick and to his trained eye, a bit hurried. He had stood up to follow, but before he could approach her, she had slammed her door shut and then yelling could be heard. He had shrank away after that.

He knew that House had done something. Cuddy would have never been that upset unless he did something extremely horrible. He would call House on it. He stared at his friend.

"YOU! OFF MY PLANET!?" House yelled as Wilson entered the room.

"I'm here to ask you a question." Wilson said. "How can you do that to people?"

House stared at him, knowing full well he was talking about his attitude toward Cuddy.

"I plead cotemporary insanity." House replied sarcastically.

"Fine House, don't give me a straight answer. I wasn't expecting you to, but listen to me talk for once." Wilson said, his voice heavy.

House stared at him some more, surprised by his actions. "Wow Jimmy, I almost believe you might hurt me."

"House, shut up. I want to know why you keep snubbing every one of us. We're your friends, the only ones you've got and you have to turn on us every chance you get. That's not what friends are for!"

House rolled his eyes. "I've been treating you like this for the past let's see, ten years? Maybe. Why bring it up now? What sunk your boat?"

Wilson lost her easygoing temper. "House, you made Cuddy cry. That's three times now. The first time in college, she forgave you. Then with the whole thing about her motherhood, she forgave you again, and now today? How long do you think she's going to keep forgiving you? How many times do you think she's going to cry because you said something that broke her shield?"

"I frankly don't care." House said, lying through his teeth.

"You will House. One day when she stops forgiving you and slams her door shut in your face, you will care and by then, it'll be too late."

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Cuddy walked through her front door, managing a balancing act that would have frightened the bravest of acrobats. House keys, groceries, baby, files, briefcase, and purse all balance in her arms.

As she sung her child to sleep that night, thoughts ran heavily across her mind. Guilt ridded her senses as she complimented her relationship with House since the day she met him. Ever since then it had been a love/hate relationship. There was a thin line between the two emotions, though House liked to call it a Great Wall of China.

She chuckled to herself as she slipped into a nightgown. The silk on her skin brought her reminder of her first night with House, how gentle he was, and how he seemed like a different person while he had been kissing her.

Feelings both past and present sought shelter in the crevices of her mind as her inner soul fought to keep from tearing itself apart. Her blue eyes focused on the ceiling in the dark, and then moving to watch the shadows dance across the wall.

She would forgive him again the next day. She would lie awake all night thinking, wondering, crying about it. Sooner or later, though, her heart would convince her mind that it was not House's fault that that's who he was. She knew his history with his family and his life before she had met him and she would convince herself that his past made his present state justifiable. Her mind shrieked at her, saying that she was fooling herself, but for once in her life Lisa Cuddy wanted to be fooled.

She would forgive him again, continue the cycle of hurt, tears, and forgiveness. She was strong, but not strong enough. She had learned by now that with House, she was anything but bulletproof. There was not way she could be. If he shot her once, a bullet she could deflect. He would take advantage of a second shot and hit her again.

She was not strong enough to break the cycle, nor was she strong enough to endure it. Lisa Cuddy was reaching the breaking point with House and her mind screamed that if she didn't jump ship soon, she would drown with the crew. She just could not decide if the limping moron that he cut his name into her heart deserved such loyalty.

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Author's Note:

How is this so far? I know it's not great and I'm really trying to spice it up. I will tell you guys that later on, it won't always be House who's the patient. Tell me if you liked it so far and the next chapter will be up soon. Wow I'm so tired. Enjoy!


	5. Behind Elevator Doors

Chapter Five

Behind Elevator Doors

Thanks to KarGra, gweaz, mj0621, DrusillaBraun, HouseAddiction, mowrocks, starstacey, Boys Don't Cry, girlwithwingsoffire, gabiroba, RHSecretLove, BlkDiamond, and PaulaAbdulChica2007 for their reviews!

Sergeant, we're both stressed.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Something jolted her awake that night. Well not really jolted her awake. She had been tossing and turning all night, wondering, thinking, crying. Her thin nightgown, usually warm and comfortable on her skin, but not it seemed too thin to keep her from shivering. She wasn't sure if it was physical or psychological.

Her breath caught and her chest tightened. Pain coursed through her body before it faded. Gone without another trace. She pressed her hand against the pulse in her wrist, counting her heart beats, slightly surprised at the rate. She made her way down her stairs and to her medicine cabinet.

As she came upstairs with her aspirin and an apple in her hand, she paused in front of her daughter's bedroom. She was sleeping peacefully, quietly, as if nothing in the world could ever disturbed her, but Cuddy knew better. She knew that the slightest noise will wake the sleeping child and Jesse would shriek her anger out to anyone who would listen.

Stacy always said that Jesse was just like Cuddy, verbal with her wants and needs and won't stand to be turned down. Cuddy reached into her daughter's crib and stroke her face. The child murmured under her breath and snuggled closer to Cuddy's hand. She smiled.

When she laid her head back upon her pillow, she fell asleep instantly.

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Stacy slipped into House's room. He stared when he saw her. His heart beat quickened in spite of his mental self control. Years later, there were still some sparks between him and Stacy Warner. He said nothing about this, however. His feelings for Cuddy were just as strong, though he did not want to admit them attention.

She was the woman he loved and lost and actually cared that he lost. Stacy was a loss, but his pain for losing her was not enough to change him. Losing Cuddy had taught him fear, regret, guilt, and grief.

"You haven't changed." He said.

"You haven't either." She replied. Before he could interject, she continued, "Look House, don't say a word, but hear me out. You screwed up. Probably more than you have ever done in your life. In my opinion, Cuddy should just drop all connection with you, but she won't."

"Well maybe she likes limping jerks."

She put a finger to her lips and handed him a stack of paperwork. "She wants you to forfeit rights to Jesse or promise to take part in her upbringing."

House didn't take the paperwork. "I'm not signing anything."

She dropped it by his bed. "Fine, but I won't hesitate to bring you to court. Not when it comes to Cuddy."

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House was finally able to stand on his own two feet. He would be discharged soon, but part of him did not want to leave. He wanted to keep watching Cuddy rule this hospital as she had with PPTH.

He would never admit it, but he missed her so much. Even when she was angry at him, it was enough just to watch her all fiery. But Jesse was becoming the new break between them.

He was terrified. He was scared out of his mind of the creature. She was tiny and when she had stared at him, all wide-eyed and innocent, it was the equivalent of her pointing a gun in his face.

He wanted to hold her, to raise her, to be the father he never had, but he was scared to. She was so innocent, so unmarred by the word. He was so scarred, both inside and out. He was scared he would damage her, destroy her innocence, ruin that untouched beauty. He had hurt Cuddy so much. He could not and would not do the same to that child.

Let Cuddy think she was heartless. Let her think that he had no conscience. Her hate was worth Jesse's trust. He would not allow his daughter to become as bitter as he was toward the world.

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The elevator doors opened and he found himself staring face to face with Cuddy. She was dressed in a black blazer with black pants that had thin gray stripes that lengthened her already perfectly formed legs. He admired her up and down, surprised that she wore pants.

"Easier to run when you deal with limping idiots." She said, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

He shrugged. "Looks like I'm going home."

"Looks like you are." She replied, moving aside to let him into the elevator.

"I'm on the 5th floor. Check out's on the 1st." she informed him.

The elevator started to move down instead of up, annoying Cuddy only slightly.

"I missed your funbags." He said, resorting to hide behind his sarcastic remarks.

She just smirked as the elevator doors opened again. "That's your floor."

He hesitated. She gently pushed him forward with her hand on the small of his back. He shivered only slightly at the touch, but was forced to step forward and out of the elevator.

So distracted that he didn't notice that she had had a file in her hand until she handed it to him.

"Fill them out." She said. "I don't care which set, but fill them out. Either hands off or hands on. There's no middle ground."

With that the elevator doors shut and she disappeared from his view. But he remained there, staring at the silver doors with a pained look in his eyes.

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As the elevator began to move up, she felt her head begin to spin. She leaned against the wall, trying desperately to steady herself. Her legs were numb as her chest tightened.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. Her legs gave out and she was on the floor.

Her body shook with convulsions as pain shot down her spine.

The doors opened and Stacy saw her best friend lying on the cold floor like a ragged doll.

"HELP!" She screamed.

Cuddy's body jolted up again and then her head struck against the floor. Her world then went black.

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Author's Note:

Sorry that was so short. I'll have more soon. I'm so tired I need some sleep. Enjoy everyone! I'm sorry if this chapter was not as interesting as the others. House's reluctance to accept Jesse is explained in this one though. Again…enjoy!


	6. Last Resort

Chapter Six

Last Resort

Thanks to mj0621, girlwithwingsoffire, RHSecretLove, Boys Don't Cry, DrusillaBraun, HouseAddiction and gabiroba for their reviews! Much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to House. I know I've made this comment before, but I don't want to be sued. And I'm not making any money off this thing. I'm just an overly obsessed fan who has nothing better to do right now.

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House was shoved aside as doctors rushed a patient into the ER. The patient was convulsing and Stacy was rushing right behind them, tears streaming down her face.

He grabbed onto her arm and pulled her to him. She fought his hold as she tried to follow into the ER. His grip was tight and finally she stopped struggling. He slowly loosened his grip as Wilson ran up to them, seeing this commotion.

"House what the hell? I'm trying to get your discharge papers and then all this screaming?" Wilson asked.

"Don't blame me. Blame the siren over here." He complained, pointing at Stacy.

Stacy didn't retort with a smart aleck response. Just a sniffle followed by a wet tear. Wilson was immediately the one by her side, putting an arm around her shoulder and trying to quiet her.

"What the hell happened? Mark dump you?" House asked, as merciless as always.

She glared at him. "No. Cuddy just collapsed in the elevator. I don't know what happened. The doors opened and she was like convulsing." She yelled.

House stared. Then without another word made his way toward the ER. The doctors wouldn't let him in, but he shoved past them.

"Sir you can't go in there. One of our doctors is in there."

"I know moron. I can read the sign, but I'm a doctor." House retorted.

He froze when he saw Cuddy lying on the table. They had gotten her to stop convulsing, but couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. Her heartbeat was back to normal and so was everything else about her. She didn't look like anything had happened and the doctors were baffled.

"Sir you can't be here." One of the doctors said.

House rolled his eyes. "I'm a doctor and it's obvious none of you know what's wrong with her, so let me figure it out."

"We've just sent out tests and finishing up here. We will know what's wrong with her." The doctor replied forcefully.

"Fine, but do you really want to make this a territorial thing? Because in case you haven't noticed, the lead cardiologist is dying on the table right behind you." House pointed out.

The doctors shook their head. "No way. Procedure says we can't let anyone not with this hospital treat her."

House slammed his cane against the wall. "Cuddy used to run the hospital where I work. She would have never let a life come below what protocol says. It's not fair if she dies while we're waiting on tests from an overcrowded MRI machine."

Before the hospital doctors could respond, he cut them off and continued.

"Even when you get the tests back, you're going to try a bunch of useless tests and treatments on her. Mercy Hospital has no diagnostic department. She needs a diagnostician. I'm the head of that department in New Jersey. She's got a clean bill of health until today. You will never figure it out. I have experience. I can." He argued.

"Sorry." The doctor said, lowering his eyes. "I can't allow you. She'll be my patient and you're going to have to leave."

House almost hit him but a security guard had just ran in, pulling him out.

"YOU MORONS! SHE'S GONNA DIE AND THEN I WON'T CARE IF I KILL ONE OF YOU BECAUSE NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO ME!" he roared.

At his yell, Cuddy began to stir. The doctors gathered around her, all asking her questions at once. She was confused and looked around.

"Was someone just in here?" she asked.

The doctors exchanged glances before shaking their heads. No use getting her worked up that a patient had just barged into her treatment room. Knowing Lisa Cuddy, she would've been angry.

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Stacy had gathered herself. She was holding a sleeping Jesse as she sat in Cuddy's room. Worry was written in both their faces as they watched the sleeping girl.

"I need to get out of here." Cuddy commented, reaching out to stroke her daughter's hair.

Stacy handed the child over into Cuddy's arms as she answered. "No way until we're sure you're okay."

"I'm fine. I was just tired." Cuddy said.

Stacy shook her head. "You were convulsing, Lisa. Okay doesn't define that. I haven't pointed this out, but you've lost a lot of weight."

Cuddy opened her mouth to complain but Stacy cut her off.

"If you just randomly collapse in the elevator, you could randomly collapse anywhere." She paused and then added. "You could collapse while carrying Jesse or if you two are alone together and no one finds you, what happens to her."

Cuddy gave in at that. She knew Stacy was right. She couldn't risk Jesse's health for her pride.

"What's wrong with me?" She asked.

"They don't know but they're running tests." Stacy said.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "The MRI machine is book until the end of the week. My CT scan will probably not show anything because I highly doubt my condition is neurological." She said, sounding more like a doctor than a patient.

She glanced at the window, watching the sun beat down mercilessly on the glass. "There's no way you can watch Jesse for so long and the nanny won't hang around that long either." She said, thinking outloud. "There has to be some way."

"There is." Stacy pointed out.

She could've grown horns and Cuddy wouldn't have looked at her so strangely.

"I mean, you want House to be either hands on or hands off with Jesse. Why not give him a chance right now to get to know her?" Stacy asked. "You really don't have any other choice. That baby cries unless it's me or you holding her at night. The interns won't babysit."

Cuddy thought it over. "I don't have a choice do I?" she asked.

Stacy shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think you do."

"Fine. But check in on him as much as you can. He has a drug habit and if he wasn't House, I would've killed him rather than let him come so close to my daughter." Cuddy said.

Stacy nodded. "I'll check on her before and after work." She said.

Cuddy agreed to the terms. "Alright. Tell me to come and talk to me if he's still in the hospital. If not get Wilson to get him."

Stacy kissed Jesse on the forehead and then stood up and exited the room. Cuddy cradled her daughter close to her and held her tightly. Her mind raced through everything that could go wrong, but she could not talk herself out of allowing House to be with Jesse. It was a right that she could not deny and part of her thought; maybe just maybe if fate was willing, Jesse could finally reach into the part of House that had been lost so long ago.

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House hadn't left yet. He hung around the waiting room, trying to figure out the best way into the MRI room or at least some lab where he could get Cuddy's blood tested for himself.

Stacy found him trying to creep through the back exit.

"House, we need to talk." Stacy said.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"Easy, I took a book out of Cuddy's book and followed the scent of arrogance." She muttered.

He leaned against the wall and began to twirl his cane, watching her. "What do you need?" he asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "However, Cuddy needs you to watch Jesse. We know you're her father, so I convinced her to trust you with that precious cargo."

House stared at her. "I don't want to." He said.

She stamped her foot. "Why the hell not? Don't you care about her? Don't you care the slightest about Cuddy?"

He looked at her and she caught the look in his eyes.

"You're scared." Stacy said. "You said all those things to drive her away because you're afraid of her."

"No I'm not. I just don't like kids." He said.

Stacy rolled her eyes. "Fine whatever. You will like Jesse though. Sometimes I wonder how I never knew before Cuddy told me. She acts just like you sometimes. Crying when people ignore her, crying when people give her attention." Stacy said.

He looked at her. "Where is she?" he asked.

"With Cuddy. You need to go talk to her." Stacy said.

"Does she want to talk to me?" House asked.

Stacy hesitated. "Let me ask you this House. After you've been hurt by the same person over and over again and yet they never seem to notice, but now you have no choice but to acknowledge that you need them. Would you want to talk to them?"

She didn't wait for his answer. She just turned and walked back toward her office, leaving him with his thoughts, complicated, uncertain thoughts that he had never had in his life.

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House slowly entered Cuddy's room. The blinds were pulled back to allow sunlight entry into what would've been a dreary and dark room had it not contained Lisa Cuddy.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

"Okay. Thanks for asking." She said, shifting uncomfortably.

He sighed, unable to stare into those penetrating eyes that could read him like a book and then tear him apart as if she were ripping a page that was already damp with rainwater.

"This the little devil?" he asked.

She held Jesse out to him. "Her name is Jesse."

"Devil." He said.

"Jesse." She responded firmly in return.

He made no reply, just stared down at the little bundle wrapped in a pink blanket. She gurgled and reached out to him with a tiny fist. He didn't know what to do. Cuddy must have read the confused expression on his face because she sat up.

"Support her head and back. Don't drop her and hold her against your chest." She said. "Like this."

House was close enough for her to properly place the child in his arms and fix his hands to support the few pounds she was. He stared down at the child, wonder and amazement in his eyes. Cuddy fought down a smile. She had had the same expression the first time she had held her daughter.

Her practical side, however, would only allow her softer side to surface for a second's thought.

"Okay here are the rules." She said.

"Damn. I knew there was a catch." He muttered.

"No pills in front of her. You get two in the morning and two at night and always in the supervision of a doctor. I will not risk my daughter being caught alone while you're high. Another thing, drop her you're dead. When she cries, check her diaper first. If it's clean, heat up a bottle, but not too hot or else she'll get burned. Yes, you have to taste the milk before she does. She's old enough not to need breast milk. After she eats, you have to burp her. I recommend putting a towel on your shoulder. She tends to spit up."

House was wondering if he needed to write this down. He didn't, however, just held the baby dumbly in his hands.

"If she fusses and it's not anything I've just said, it means she wants affection. Just pick her up and cuddle her a little bit. She'll quiet down." Cuddy said.

House nodded, dumbly. "Okay." He said, trying to remember everything.

"It's getting late. She's going to need a bottle soon." Cuddy said softly, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes.

As if following a soundless cue, he handed the child back to Cuddy. She held her close and kissed her pudgy cheek, whispering some very motherly words. Then she handed the child back to House, who struggled to remember where to place his hands.

"Her baby bag is in my office." Cuddy said.

He nodded as he started for the door.

"House." She said.

He turned.

Her eyes were pleading as she spoke. "Please, take care of her." she whispered.

He nodded and left without a word. He was not used to seeing Cuddy plead, with him or anyone else for that matter. She was begging now. It scared the hell out of him.

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Cameron knocked gently on House's apartment door. There was no answer. She knocked harder. Still nothing. She hesitated.

She complimented how he would react if she just barged into the room, into his private life without an invitation. Then another thought registered. What if he was dying in there? From pills or whatever else he could think of?

She pulled a hairpin out of her mass of brown hair and stuck it into the lock, pushing the door open as the lock clicked open.

The place was as empty as a tomb with more silence than the ends of the earth. She paced around. The floor was littered with empty bottles of various types of alcohol and a pile of pills lay on his coffee table. She walked around, examining each room, wondering if she was intruding, knowing she was.

Someone walked up behind her as she started to rift through some of his mail. A hand on her shoulder made her jump and scream.

"Jeez. My ears!" Chase complained.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Because I knew you would be here." Chase replied simply. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Since you weren't at the hospital or at your apartment, I figured you came here."

"What are you? House?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No, I'm not as big a bastard."

"No but you're getting there." She retorted.

"We should get out of here before we're arrested for trespassing." Chase muttered.

"You are arrested." She corrected. "I'm sure he won't mind me here."

He laughed. "Are you kidding? House will kill you."

She looked at him, confused.

He took a gentler approach. "Cameron, are you blind? He's smittened by Cuddy. He hasn't been the same ever since she left."

"The entire damn hospital hasn't been the same since she left." Cameron argued.

"But House has been ten times worse than anyone else." Chase said.

Cameron was about to object when Chase cut her off.

"Cameron, get this in your head. He's in love with her. No one else notices because they don't think like him. I'm learning to read people and even he cannot fool everyone. He's in love with her, not you. It never will be you."

Cameron felt hot tears begin to fight her control. "Fine. Maybe it'll never be me. Maybe I'm just too messed up for someone as messed up as he is."

"Oh come on." He replied. "You're not messed up. You're just blinded by the wrong person."

Cameron didn't reply. Chase took a deep breath. He had been wondering how long he should keep a lid on his feelings for his coworker. He had been dreaming about her ever since they had had one crazy night together. He loved her sweetness, her sincerity, and the fact that she was the opposite of everything he was.

He pulled her into a hug and held her, keeping his mouth shut. At least for now. The right time will come for him to let her know exactly how he felt. Time was made to fix broken hearts and when she was ready, he would show her what being loved felt like.

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Author's Note:

That's it for this chapter. House is babysitting and who's curious to know how he's going to raise a screaming baby girl? Is he going to start popping pills to get rid of his headache? Is Cuddy going to get better? Where does everyone else play into this? Lol more on the way! And how does the whole Chameron situation work? R&R is welcomed!


	7. Buttloads of Fun

Chapter Seven

Buttloads of Fun

Thanks so Mrs.Scott323, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, HouseAddiction, DrusillaBraun, Boys Don't Cry, PaulaAbdulChica2007, KarGra, RHSecretLove, and mj0621 for their reviews!

Sergeant, that sounds like something you would do.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything House belongs to Fox.

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House shut the door behind him and laid Cuddy's daughter on the sofa. She gurgled happily and he stared at her, unsure of how to react.

She stopped giggling.

They exchanged stares. Hers, curious. His, blank. If Cuddy had been there, she would have seen that mirror image between the two of them.

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Wilson slipped into Cuddy's room and looked at her. She was sleeping on her side, her cheek laid gently in her open palm as dark brown curls lay all around her. In his hand was a bouquet of red roses, a dozen. Her chest rose gently with each breath and he stood there for a moment, unable to resist gently stroking her cheek. She stirred slightly, but didn't wake. He laid the roses on her bedside table, pausing only momentarily to glance at her sleeping form one more time.

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"What do I do?" House asked as Jesse screamed her displeasure.

Being a baby, Jesse didn't answer with words, a scream was more like it.

"You're very verbal aren't you?" He said, raising his voice over her yells.

She responded by screaming louder.

"Like mother, like daughter." He muttered. "I swear, yelling is hereditary."

"Okay okay okay." He said. "Let's see, diaper first. Okay, nothing. That means feeding!"

At that she stopped yelling. "Ba ba?" she gurgled.

House glanced at her. "What the hell?" he muttered. "You called it a what?"

She just giggled.

He carried her out pulled out the milk from the fridge and poured it into a bottle, sticking it into the microwave. When he opened the microwave, the bottle had toppled over and milk was every where.

To his annoyance, Jesse laughed from her place on the countertop.

"Yeah well you can't string a sentence together, moron." He said sarcastically.

"You know it would help if you heat it up in a cup first." A female voice said from the doorway.

"Yeah I know. New experiment." He replied. "Wanted to see if I could blow up the house with breast milk."

Stacy coughed, fighting back laughter.

"Let me help." She said, taking the bottle from him.

"I can handle it." He mumbled. His arm nearly knocking Jesse off the counter. He reached out to steady her as Stacy sent him a look of amusement.

She held up a paper towel, now soaked with milk. "I'm sure." she said, measuring a pint of milk and heating it, properly.

They waited for a moment in silence. Then Stacy blew on the heated liquid before handing it to Jesse. Jesse laughed.

"You know how to do this stuff?" House asked.

Stacy laughed and nodded. "Having a child is hard, not even Lisa can handle it twenty four seven, at least not alone. I try to help out. She is my best friend."

He stared at her strangely.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said, shaking his head.

She shrugged. "When she's finished, burp her. I have to get back to work."

"There's work without me?" He asked.

She grinned. "Things are slower now that I don't have a sue case every week." She replied. "That doesn't mean the world stops though."

With that, she was out and gone, leaving him staring blankly back and forth with his daughter.

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"You need to be in bed." Meredith said to Cuddy, who was crawling out of her bed.

"No actually I don't. I'm not in danger unless I have a seizure. I'm still in the hospital so medical attention will be almost immediate." She argued back, matter of factly. "I have patients that need me."

Meredith opened her mouth to object, but Cuddy was already pulling hair messy hair into a half up do. She followed her boss as she strode quickly to her office, pulling out an extra set of clothes she kept in the bottom drawer. She motioned for Meredith to exit.

Meredith hesitated.

"Look," Cuddy said, more gently, almost motherly. "I'll be fine. Nothing will happen to me at the moment. The onset is slower than was predicted. If anything happens, you'll be right beside me."

Meredith stared, but only for a moment. "Are you asking me to accompany on your cases?" She asked.

Cuddy gave her a small smile. "Out of all my doctors, you're the most promising and don't you dare let that go to your head." She paused and then added, "You tell anyone, I'll deny it."

"Understood." Meredith replied smiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Detective Tritter." Cuddy greeted as she slipped into his room closely followed by Meredith.

"Dr. Cuddy." He said in reply.

"You're test results are back." Cuddy said, opening a file and beginning to check his pupils and pulse.

"And?" he asked.

"You're scheduled for surgery tomorrow afternoon. You have Churg- Strauss Syndrome." Cuddy explained.

"Is that really bad?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, not if you get it treated as soon as possible. We caught it early."

He just pondered this information over as Cuddy began to move toward the door, leaving some papers on his bedside table. "Here are the forms." She said.

"Wait." He said.

She turned, pausing.

"Thank you." He said.

She returned a glance that was colder than ice. "It's better than anything you've ever given me."

"Look I'm sorry." He said. "I've been punished enough. Don't give me a guilt trip."

She moved to his bedside and lowered her body until her eyes were level with his. "You took my job, you took two of my best friends, and now I may be dying from I don't know what and I can't ask the only doctor I know who can save me to help." She said. "Don't talk to me about guilt."

"Your testimony cost me my job." He roared at her. "That damn DA Cabot hunted me down, bringing me down until I had no choice but to quit. Digging through my past cases, overturning some of my convictions, having me pegged as an abusive cop. Don't tell me about your losses."

She stared him down. "I lost more than you know. More than I'm willing to say." she said softly.

She turned the knob of the door and was halfway out when she turned and added,

"I hope your surgery goes well."

With that she was out of the room, Meredith tailing her, wondering what the hell had she just witnessed.

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House fidgeted and rubbed his leg as the pain set in. His body was going through all the symptoms of withdraw as he watched his daughter sleep. She was oblivious to his pain. He felt his stomach churned as his body protested the desperate needing of his pills. He barely made it into the bathroom before he barfed.

He sat there with his head on the floor for long moments, before he pushed himself onto his feet. He headed back out to his daughter, who was still fast asleep.

Her eyes moved under her closed eyelids, indicating that she was dreaming. He wondered what someone so new and innocent into the world could be dreaming about.

"You know you're a pain." He said outloud. "Just like your mother is, though you're probably smaller, and fatter, and cuter."

She just sighed.

"Of course your mother always a knack for getting what she wants. I bet you're gonna be the same way you little demon. She's gonna have one hell of a time with you. I bet you're gonna be running off on Harleys and smoking pot by the time you're fifteen."

At this, Jesse stirred and awoke with a bright smile. House felt himself soften without any way to prevent it.

"Then again, your mother is probably one of the few people in the world who's genuinely a good person." He said softly. "Maybe you'll be lucky and get her genes."

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Cuddy felt the pain in her system again. She collapsed onto her knees, breathing hard.

"Cuddy? Cuddy!" Meredith yelled. "I need a sedative now!"

The nurses rushed to the fallen doctor, helping her into her room. Cuddy was now shaking violently as she was laid onto the bed. She arched her back and screamed, crying out.

"Get away from me! You son of a bitch get away from me!" She screamed.

Meredith was startled as she moved away. Cuddy had tears in her eyes now as she tried to fight off everyone around her.

"She's hallucinating." Meredith realized.

Wilson had been in the waiting room when he saw the commotion. He raced into the room and pushed aside doctors and nurses, reaching into the drawer for a sedative. He carefully, but quickly inserted the needle into Cuddy's arm. She stopped failing as her eyes closed.

Wilson glanced around. "Somebody call House." He said softly. "Swallow your pride and save her life."

None of the doctors but Meredith moved.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

House's phone rang and he juggled baby, cane, and phone as he answered.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked. "And who the hell are you any way?"

"I'm Dr. Stevens."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I frankly don't care. What do you want?" he said.

"It's Dr. Cuddy, sir."

He felt a sense of dread. His fingers shook as he waited on her next words. He found himself whispering, _please don't be dead_, over and over again as Jesse stared at him curiously.

"She's just had a hallucination and a seizure." The timid, a little frightened voice said on the line.

"Did you run a CT scan?" He asked.

"The machine's full until the end of the week." Meredith said softly. "But she's in line."

"She doesn't have that much time." He said. "It's an infection."

"Her tests for infection are clean." Meredith protested.

"Yet you haven't covered her brain yet." House said.

"I can't prescribe strong antibiotics with a definite diagnosis." Meredith said.

"Then let me give her a definite diagnosis." House retorted.

"To do that, you need to buy an MRI and CT machine."

"Or move her." He said. "I'm coming in."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cuddy stirred and awoke to an unshaven man staring down at her. She didn't completely open her eyes, however, and he wasn't paying as much attention as he should have been as he gently touched her cheek with a callused hand.

She moved unconsciously closer to the warmth, to which he quickly pulled away, almost blushing beneath his scruffy appearance.

"You're alive." He said.

"And you have a cane." She stated sarcastically.

Nothing was mentioned about the small act of endearment. It always happened that way. They had a grudging affection for each other and when it showed, neither would ever admit to it.

"The MRI and CT machines are full." He said.

"I know. I have patients that are on that list." She responded.

"You may not have that long." He said, taking a seat beside her bed.

She sniffled a little and he was surprised at her moment of weakness. He let her have it as the tears rolled out of his eyes. In the end, no matter how strong she was, she was still a patient. Still as scared as any one else would be and seeing such a human side of her scared him.

"It's gonna be okay." He said unsure of what else to say.

"Don't lie to me House. You would've never said that to a patient. Treat me like one of your patients that you don't care if she lives or dies. Don't treat me like I'm something fragile." She said furiously.

He stared at her and she stared back, sizing each other up, seeing right through each other.

"Fine." He stated simply. "Get your ass transferred back to PPTH or else you'll die."

"Yes because that place is going to totally welcome me back." She muttered.

"People there miss you." He said. "At least some of the dumber ones."

"Great so the morons are the ones who miss me."

"Pretty much. Though I have to say, the new Dean doesn't have half the about of funbags as you." He said.

She smirked. "I was wondering when you were going to get to an inappropriate comment." She said. "What about Jesse though?"

"She can stay at my apartment with Cameron babysitting. You know she'll do it." House said.

Cuddy tried to think of a reason to refuse. There really was none either than the fact that she wanted to annoy House. She glanced at the IV bag beside her and decided that then was not the time to piss him off. There would be plenty more times to annoy him if she stayed alive.

"I'll see if I can get transferred to PPTH by tomorrow."

House grinned at her. "We're gonna have buttloads of fun."

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Author's Note:

How's that people? Still interested? Lol I'm having a good time writing this. It's fun. Now R&R and I'll update as soon as possible. Thanks so much for reading!


	8. Back Again

Chapter Eight

Back Again

Thanks to DrusillaBraun, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, RHSecretLove, gabiroba, HouseAddiction, Boys Don't Cry, girlwithwingsoffire, house's phoenix, bbplayer005, LPLumz, and PaulaAbdulChica2007 for their reviews!

Yes Sergeant, it was intentional.

Disclaimer: I own nothing what so ever.

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She was still healthy enough to travel by car. The decision had been hers and hers alone. House and Wilson had both tried to talk her out of it. Wilson had tried to talk her into not moving at all, fearing the transfer could speed her condition up, while House had tried to get her to take something faster. She refused both in one breath and said she was fine for the time being.

Being Lisa Cuddy, they had no choice but to give in.

Now they were piled in Wilson's car. Strangely enough, it was not Wilson driving. Cuddy rode shot gun while House was behind in the wheel. Wilson sat in the back with a less than pleased expression on his face. Beside him, Jesse slept in a comfy child seat with a binky and a pink blanket.

"Are you okay?" House asked.

"Yes." Cuddy replied simply. "Stop asking."

He took another peek at her from the corner of his eye. She caught him watching her.

"Stop watching too." She said. "I'm not gonna fall apart and die right now."

He didn't reply, just turned his attention to the road. Cuddy took note of the fact that House was driving slower than he usually did, not running yellow lights dangerously close to the red, or making tight turns that always made her heart tighten.

Within hours, they were at PPTH and House was helping her out of the car. She was fine. It was strange. One minute she would be having a seizure on the floor and the next she would feel as if she had woken up from a twelve hour nap. It didn't make sense. She felt House's gaze upon her again, blowing off as him wanting to figure out the puzzle of her illness and nothing more.

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Heads turned when the trio made their way into the hospital. Nurses, doctors, receptionists, and interns alike immediately recognized their former boss. Many of them too shocked to approach her. House wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He stood in front of her as if protecting her from the crowd, knowing full well she needed no protection, not from him, not from anyone.

Troubled turned the corner.

Dr. Fisher, the current Dean of Medicine at PPTH, turned to find herself faced with a smartass doctor, her predecessor, and Wilson wearing an 'uh oh' expression on his face.

Neither of the two men had even taken into account that Cuddy and Fisher would ever meet each other in person. They had hoped to get Cuddy settled as a patient, so that Fisher would never know she had been there.

Fisher already knew Cuddy. However there had been no reason for them to ever come across each other face to face in many years. However, Fisher would have recognized that face from the newspapers anywhere. The stories covering honors the younger doctor had received, the successes, and respect of the hundreds of doctors. Jealousy coursed through her veins as thoughts as to the reason behind Cuddy's sudden appearance started to bloom in her mind.

"Dr. Cuddy," She greeted, extending a hand with a frosty smile. "What brings you back to PPTH?"

Cuddy gave a smile, less cold, more polite as she shifted her daughter to one hip and shook Fisher's hand, firmly.

"Doctor patient privilege." She said simply. "I prefer the reason to be between Dr. House and me."

Fisher pursued her lips. "But he can't treat you. He's on suspension."

She turned to glare at House, giving him a did-you-plan-this look. He shook his head at her and tried to feign an innocent look.

"Forgot." He said.

She groaned. "Looks like I'm going back to Mercy."

House grabbed her arm and said, "I can't let you do that. It was already a risk moving you down here, if you go back, your condition may worsen."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off and directed his attention to his current boss.

"Look, let me treat her." He said, his voice soft and if one listened hard enough, they could barely make out a note of pleading.

Fisher glanced at him, frowning. Wilson stepped in.

"Dr. Fisher, Dr. Cuddy is well known and respected in the medical field. If we treat her successfully then PPTH gets good publicity. Something we desperately need at a time like this." He reasoned.

Cuddy sent a look in his direction, wondering what had happened while she had been in New York. Both he and House ignored her. It had become typical in her absence for Wilson to play diplomat to help House get what he needed. Usually Fisher would refuse whatever he wanted just to show him who was holding the leash. Cuddy had never done that with him. She may have been in charge, but she knew better than to refuse House simply because he was House.

Dr. Fisher gave a sigh. "Fine, but House I expect you to double your clinic hours until the end of the month." She said.

He didn't hesitate, fearing that the deal would go off the table if he exhibited his usual reaction. Strangely enough, he subtly hated the woman standing before him, a feeling he had rarely felt. Most people to him were indifferent, at worst annoying, with Fisher it was a steadily growing feeling of hate. With Cuddy, he had always felt secure and trusting of her decisions and even though he would toy with his answer, he knew he would've done anything she seriously asked him to do willingly. Fisher was different. House only obeyed her when he had no choice.

"Dr. Cuddy. " Fisher said, directing her attention to the younger woman. "I hope you will be comfortable during your stay."

"It's good to be back." Cuddy said sincerely.

Fisher snorted. She had never respected the younger doctor. She believed that Cuddy had been too young to truly be honored with the title Dean, and that the woman had only made it to the top because of her looks. She failed to recognize the traits that she, herself, lacked, that Cuddy had been so easily blessed with and easily carried out.

"Only for the time being." Fisher said. "After all, this hospital has been doing wonderfully well even without you Ms. Cuddy."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow. She wasn't used to being call "Miss" anything. It had always been doctor and even though it was subtly shown, she could feel the older doctor's contempt for her.

She forced herself to remain civil. "I'm glad to see that my work hasn't been undone." She said.

"Why would it? There wasn't much to undo."

That was uncalled for and anyone watching knew it. Cuddy scoffed and then put on a smile. She was used to such criticism and comments from people that had never believed in her until she pulled something incredible together right before their eyes.

"Well then there hasn't been much that's been done." She finished, before sidestepping past Dr. Fisher and toward the elevator.

House hobbled after her, an obvious pleased smirk plastered upon his face. He loved this side of Cuddy, the witty, clever, bantering side of her that showed that her mind was as brilliant as his own. She just had more control.

Wilson was hiding behind his hand, trying not to make it too obvious that he found the scene incredibly funny. Fisher sent him a glare and he quickly fled toward the elevator.

House gave him a wave as the metal doors shut in his face. Wilson stopped before hitting them face first, clenching his fist and fighting back a curse. Fisher was walking toward him and he took a moment of opportunity to flee up the stairs.

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House personally got Cuddy settled in a room only two doors away from his office. The door in between was a closet. For the first time, he was the one to get her hooked onto a heart monitor, check her vitals, and make sure she was comfortable.

"I thought you don't do patients." Cuddy said, immediately regretting her wording.

"I'm not doing you, Dr. Cuddy. That would be unethical and it would mean that the nurses get to see that you wear hot pink thong panties and gossip about." He said.

She rolled her eyes. "Welcome back to PPTH." She muttered under her breath.

He smirked at her. "What would a welcome be without one of my sarcastic comments?"

She pretended to think. "I don't know…a good one?"

He laughed, loud and throaty. She grinned in response. Jesse, however, was not amused. She awoke screaming. Cuddy immediately started to shush her gently, rocking her back and forth until her cries dimmed to nothing.

As soon as she got the child quiet, however, Foreman, Chase, and Cameron burst through the door, nearly tripping upon one another. Jesse screamed her startlement. The shushing routine began again with House and his ducklings conversing in yells to hear each other over the amplitude of Cuddy's daughter's screams.

"CUDDY'S BACK?" Foreman yelled.

"WHAT?" House yelled back.

Chase motioned to the bed. "SHE'S BACK!"

"WHAT?"

Then House held up a finger as he moved to Cuddy's bedside. Cuddy was trying to crawl out of the bed to get the binky in Jesse's diaper bag. House got it for her and stuck it firmly with resolution into Jesse's mouth. The cries died at once.

"WOW!" He exclaimed, rubbing his ears. "Only a child of Cuddy's would have that great of a lung capacity. It must be genetic."

Cuddy made a face at him, then turned her attention to the ducklings gaping open mouthed at her.

"Guys, please pick your bottom jaws off the floor." She said.

To everyone's surprise, Foreman reached over and gave his former boss a hug. Obviously glad to see her again. House raised an eyebrow.

"Since when does the convict give hugs to his boss?" he asked.

"I was indicted, not convicted." Foreman retorted. "And what's wrong with being human?"

He paused, "Oh wait, this is House we're talking about."

Faking House's posture and voice, he said, "I'm Dr. House. I am sarcastic, cynical, bitter, and the biggest jackass known to mankind. I do not have feelings so here I am, wondering why I'm all alone."

House looked at Foreman for a moment. "At least I have a positive attitude about my faults, after all, I'm not a useless doctor who can't figure out a case without the mean sarcastic jackass there to hold my hand."

"Uh, actually we were all for trying treatments, but Cameron was the one that wanted to confirm everything with you." Chase pointed out.

"Just because you have good hair, doesn't mean you can blame it on everyone else." House said. "Though Cameron, I'm not surprised."

She glared at him. He ignored her.

"So we have Dr. Cuddy here." He said.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Basically, I'm sick and no one knows what's wrong with me."

House nodded. "I want CT scans, blood tests, ultrasound and an MRI." He said. "All the tests that carry no risk. I want to know exactly what the symptoms are and if there are any that are not obvious to plain sight."

They paused to stare at the child watching them in Cuddy's arms.

"How did?" Chase began.

"GO!" House yelled at them.

They scurried out, questions unanswered.

"Thanks." She said. "I wasn't really ready for all their questions."

"You'll never be ready." He said, picking Jesse up out of Cuddy's arms.

She was surprised that he would willingly come within a foot of the child, but kept her surprise to herself. She found herself enjoying this side of him, a side that no one but she ever got to see.

"So you're gonna cure me?"

"That's the idea." He said.

She gave him a smile. "Then hurry." She said. "I can't miss too much work."

He rolled his eyes. It was the typical Cuddy response and demand. The reason always was her job. She hadn't changed that much and House liked the familiarity. His life had changed drastically ever since she left and he had been slowly spiraling downhill ever since, but now with her presence, warm and familiar, he could almost feel himself being picked up out of the hole he had dug himself into.

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"The tests were clean." Foreman said. "Nothing irregular popped up."

"Nothing is supposed to pop up. We're supposed to look for them." House said.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Well we looked and there was nothing."

"Obviously there's something. People don't just faint in the middle of hospitals. Oh wait, never mind. What I meant was people don't just faint randomly if nothing's wrong." He said.

"Check again."

Chase slammed the file onto the table. "We already did. There's nothing wrong."

Beepers started to ring and go off all around them. Every one of them were being called to Cuddy's room. They exchanged glances.

"You wanna repeat that?" House asked.

Chase didn't answer, they were already halfway to Cuddy's room.

House being the last one to start out, was strangely the first to arrive at Cuddy's side. She was having another seizure, characterized with thrashing and convulsions. She struggled for breath, gasping for the air she desperately needed, and his heart ached at the sight of her pain.

"What happened?" he demanded to the nurse as he pulled out a needle and injected the contents into Cuddy's arm.

She stopped thrashing.

"I came in to check on her and her fever spiked up to 103 degrees. That's when I called Dr. Chase, Dr. Cameron, and Dr. Foreman, then she started to seize so I called you and she couldn't breathe."

House didn't answer as he checked his friend's vitals. They were settling back to normal though her fever was still dangerously high. He sighed as he looked down upon her. Her eyes were closed, her breathing was labored.

"Get her on some oxygen." He said, in a lowered tone. "Her respiratory system is starting to fail."

Foreman and Chase exchanged glances as Cameron went to obey, placing an oxygen mask over Cuddy's face.

Then all there stopped to look at House for some direction, some answer as to what to do next. House really had no idea. The tests had shown nothing and her condition was getting steadily worse, faster than anyone anticipated.

"Screen her brain again." He said, "There has to be a cause to these seizures. After screening her brain, I want everyone back in the breakroom."

He stopped. It unnaturally quiet, at least to his ears, now used to the constant sounds of a baby.

"Where's Jesse?"

The nurse, Previn, answered, "I brought the child to Wilson's office. He said he would watch her and let Cuddy get some sleep."

House slowly nodded, "Okay, do what I just said." He said.

"Where are you going?" Cameron asked.

"Wilson's office, I'm the new nanny." He said. "Or manny or whatever."

Then he limped out of the room, leaving some very confused doctors.

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Wilson was finished up some paperwork when House barged into his office without knocking. To Wilson's surprise, Jesse didn't cry. He expected her to, but she just glanced at House and laughed and sat up on Wilson's sofa.

"Yeah, well you're fat." House retorted, before turning to Wilson.

"Were you the one that left the roses?"

"Uh why?"

"Because I threw them away."

"Why?"

"Because." He said. "I'm an evil bastard that wants to mess with everyone else's happiness."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask for a territorial war over Cuddy."

"No, you begged for it." House replied.

"You like her?" Wilson asked, his eyes the size of giant flying saucers.

"No." House said. "But that doesn't mean you can like her."

"What?" Wilson said, utterly confused.

"I don't like her, but you like her, but because I don't like her so that means you can't like her because then that would mean that I wouldn't like you and it's not worth me not liking you because you like her, even though I don't like her. " House said in a single breath.

Wilson was too dazed to say anything. He was too lost trying to figure out what House had just said to even notice that House had picked up Jesse and left until the door slammed.

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The ducklings were already in the break room when House arrived, balancing Jesse in his arms and trying to walk with a cane at the same time. Only Chase noted that Jesse had a change of clothes and was holding a small key chain in her hand.

"Did you change her?"

"She spat up. I don't like the smell of vomit." He said.

Cameron reached for the child and House stared at her for a moment before handing the child to Cameron.

"Okay what did the brain scan show?" House asked.

"NOTHING!" Cameron said.

He watched her for a moment. "Okay for that comment, you've got babysitting duty until Cuddy gets better." He said.

"What? You can't just take me off the case like that!" Cameron said.

House patted Jesse on the head. "Little demon here needs a temporary manny." He said. "Surely a kind-hearted, obsessive with the good in life, wouldn't dream of allowing a child being left alone while her mother is in the hospital."

He stood up and added. "Her diaper bag is under my desk. Give her a bottle at one." He said, before leaving to do another brain scan by himself.

Cameron glared at his retreating back. "Where's her daddy? He should be the one watching her." she said, to her colleagues.

"The dad must be out of the picture." Foreman pointed out. "I mean hello, it's Cuddy, since when did she date?"

"She did that Eastern lube guy." Chase pointed out.

"One date that House crashed." Cameron said.

"Well that's just House. He can't be happy so he doesn't want anyone else to be happy either." Foreman said.

"Do you think he's the father?" Cameron asked.

"Who House? Hell no." Chase said.

"No I meant lube guy."

Foreman thought if over. "No, I don't think so, whoever it is, definitely needs to be someone Cuddy's known for a while."

"Why?" Chase asked. "We think of her as the Dean of Medicine, all put together and working 24/7, but maybe she had a wild weekend or something."

He stopped talking when he saw Foreman and Cameron but just gaping at him with what-the-fuck expressions on their faces, almost like the time he said the yo-mama joke only to have people stare at him.

"It could happen."

"Cuddy…right…" Foreman said sarcastically.

Chase shrugged, "Just trying to cover all possibilities."

"Yeah…." Foreman said.

They leaned back in their chairs and watched Jesse entertained herself with House's laser pointer.

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Cuddy was still oxygen even as House did the brain scan. She was awake and staring at the whiteness of the lights above her. She wasn't scared. It was a strange word to her. Fear. She should've been scared, she should've been terrified, but she wasn't. She trust House to save her, trusted him mind, body and soul, more than willing to thrust her life into his hands and let him do with it what he pleased.

She wasn't scared as long as he was still trying.

He was watching the computer as it covered each section of her brain with his glasses perched on his nose. Each section he paused, looking closely everything, then he saw it. Right in the center of her right temporal lobe was something that caused his sureness of curing her to drastically change.

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"She's got encephalitis." He said. "Brain inflammation."

"Okay," Cameron said, getting up. "I'll put her on the blood thinners."

He reached out and grabbed her arm. "YOU are not doing anything." He said. "Well except giving Jesse her bottle. It's one."

Jesse glanced at Cameron expectantly. She grumbled as she heated the milk and started to feed the child. The child refused to eat. Cameron tried to coax it into her mouth, but Jesse responded by turning her head away.

"Why won't you eat?" she asked.

"You know she doesn't know how to talk yet, so I don't think she'll give you a reason." House answered.

Cameron groaned and tried again. This time Jesse responded by slapping the bottle away. Cameron was losing her mind. She always thought herself to be good with children, but Jesse was trying to do everything in her power to disprove her theory.

"Only Cuddy's child can be such an ass." Cameron muttered.

"Hush, there's a child in the room, no profanity." House said.

Chase raised an eyebrow. House, telling Cameron not to cuss because of a child was something none of them had ever thought they would ever see.

"Give her to me." House said.

Cameron quickly thrust the baby back to House and House snickered at her futile attempts to prove to herself that she was a decent mother. She didn't have the caress that Cuddy had with children, no matter how badly she wanted it.

House cradled the child and then snuck the bottle into her mouth. Jesse didn't argue, just sucked hungrily, gazing up at her father with a wide eyed innocent look.

The ducklings were in utter shock, but House gave them no time to dwell on it.

"Foreman I want you to do the thinners. You and Chase will monitor her all night, until she is back on her feet and walking around, barking orders." He said.

Cameron looked at House. "What about me?"

"I told you already. You're on babysitting duty." He said.

"But you handle her better than me."

"But I'm also the head of this department. Lots of things to do." He said.

"He means clinic hours." Wilson said from the doorway, having heard most of the conversation. "And her symptoms clearly show toward brain inflammation."

"Exactly, so Foreman, thinners, now." He said.

"Did you get her medical files to make sure they won't have negative sideaffects?" Wilson asked.

House rolled his eyes. "I known her for too long, not to know her medical history." He said.

"Well she's been gone for a year, it might not hurt to double check."

House handed Jesse back to Cameron and without out a word, limped back out of the room, toward the basement, where all hard copies of every single employee and patients' medical files were kept.

With Cuddy, he was taking no chances.

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They sat watching Cuddy. It was an amusing sight actually to have both of them just staring at her as she slept. Her eyes opened and she started to choke. Chase quickly unhooked her from the oxygen. She coughed and slowly sat up.

"You feeling better?"

"Oh yeah." She said. "Lots. What was the diagnosis?" she asked.

"Brain inflammation." Foreman answered. "We put you on blood thinners for the time being and will be monitoring your condition closely."

She smiled. "Great. Thanks guys and thank House for me too. Now all I need are the discharge papers."

"Wait are you planning on leaving?" Chase asked.

"That was the idea. You know, get better, get out of the hospital." Cuddy replied frankly.

The two looked at their feet. She sensed there was something they were not telling her.

"What's the matter?" She asked, concern in her voice.

Foreman nudged Chase, who nudged him back. Cuddy waited. Finally Chase lost their game of rock, paper, scissors, and had to be the one to tell her.

"We were sort of hoping you would challenge Fisher, you know. Show her how you do things."

"I don't run this hospital anymore, Chase." Cuddy said.

"We know, it's just that things haven't been okay since you've been gone." Foreman said.

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked, already knowing she would not like what she would hear.

"Fisher hates House. I think the only reason she keeps House still on the staff is because patients come to him, but those numbers are decreasing."

"Why?" Cuddy asked. "He's still a brilliant doctor."

"Not when Fisher won't allow any of his treatments." Foreman said bitterly. "She does it to spite him and us, since we were the department that was created by you. She hates your guts and changes everything you've done just to prove that the hospital can function in a different way than the way you ran it."

"She's a fucking bitch." Chase said bitterly.

Cuddy put a finger to her lips. "Don't get fired because you're emotions are going wild." She warned. "I may not fire you in her place, but she may."

"You know her?" Chase asked.

"Once a very long time ago." Cuddy said vaguely. "But as to your request, I'm not going to cause trouble. It wouldn't be right for me to cause it as a patient at her hospital."

"Cuddy, she's killing people." Foreman said.

Cuddy closed her eyes. "I know and I'm sorry, but my hands are tied. I have no power over her."

Her guilt was already beginning to course through her veins. She hated leaving, but hated the consequences even more. She had hoped PPTH would fall into capable hands, but she never dreamed that Fisher would be the one to take her place. However, she could not change what Fisher has already deemed. She was no longer Dean. She had no say in what Fisher did or ruled on anything.

That alone cut.

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Author's Note:

That was a long one wasn't it? Lol I had to leave it at a cut off point because it was getting extremely long. Anyway, enjoy it! More on the way soon. More drama too and medical cases, or at least my attempt at more of them.


	9. Last Will and Testament

Chapter Nine

Last Will and Testament

Thanks to EOshipperSVU-MSR-HUDDY, Kris the fanficaholic, DrusillaBraun, PaulaAbdulChica2007, Boys Don't Cry, Huddytheultimate, mowrocks, mj0621, Miss-Miester, RHSecretLove, BlkDiamond, HouseAddiction, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, and sergeanthappybunny for their reviews! Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from House. It all belongs to Fox though I am insanely jealous.

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The cardiology team at Mercy were biting their nails. Detective Tritter's surgery had not gone well. He had nearly crashed in the middle and he was angry. He had taken his anger out on every member of the team so far and Cuddy wasn't there to think of bright ideas to save their asses.

"There has to be something we can do." Meredith said, rubbing her temples, brown hair limp after being in the hospital for so many hours.

"What?" Sloan asked, bitterly. "He's gonna rob us for every cent we have all because the surgeons found something else wrong with him. It's not our fault we didn't catch him it at first."

"He was Cuddy's patient." Burke pointed out. "Why is he suing the entire department?"

"Money." Meredith replied simply. "He wants money. I overheard him telling Cuddy how he lost his job. He probably needs the cash."

"He has no foundation." Burke complained.

"Yeah I know, but we don't have much of a choice. He's suing that's fine." Sloan muttered. "We save his ass and he sues us. Typical."

"I mean the surgeon operated on his heart to save his life. Screw the damn release form. If he hadn't gotten that clogged artery out right then and there, stupid Tritter would have died on the table." Meredith noted.

"Well there was no way Cuddy could have noticed the clog. It hadn't presented any symptoms yet." Sloan pointed out.

"I'm not gonna tell her what happened." Meredith said with a note of finality in her voice that left no room for argument. "She has enough on her plate and its no help shoving more down her throat."

The others had to agree. Cuddy's sickness was driving them mad. The department was already overworked and to have the head of the department on leave was horrendously pushing back the hospital.

"I'll find us a lawyer." Burke said, standing up.

Sloan grabbed his files. "I'll cover you for the rest of the afternoon."

Meredith grinned at the two of them. "And I'll do everyone's clinic hours."

Just like that, the team made things work again. Cuddy had a team that functioned well even without her despite the horrendous hours and overworked schedule. They loved her, but she had trained them each in such a way that they could manage on their own without her leadership.

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She felt so tired. Her head was spinning as she fought to keep her focus. Her daughter was sitting on her lap, giggling and laughing, oblivious to the state of her mother. However, she froze for a moment, staring curiously at her mother.

Cuddy shook her head to clear the cobwebs from her brain. They did little to help, only made her even dizzier. She stared seeing two's and then three's. Her head was pounding and she felt so lost for a moment, as if she was swimming against the current and drowning.

She screamed out as she felt emotions of paranoia grip at her senses. As soon as she opened her mouth, so did Jesse, screaming her fright. Their combined decibels called the nurses to her room. One of them swept Jesse off her lap and started to comfort the child, who just would not listen, only squeezed her eyes shut and wailed.

Her mother wasn't doing much better. Cuddy couldn't tell where she was. Didn't know what she was doing. It was as if her entire body had lost all control of itself and her mind itself was no understanding its own chemistry. Confusion, chaos, intolerable fear. She screamed again and again.

Breathing became difficult as she struggled to comprehend what was going on. She struggled against the nurses that were trying to keep her from accidentally hurting herself. Darkness overtook chaos. She fought its hold without avail until it consumed her completely. She would not give in. She screamed out her defiance, partly to let herself know that she was still alive, partly to purge her own fear of the unknown.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He didn't know her turmoil or fear when he limped into her room. He motioned for Cameron to pluck the child out of the nurse's hold and to take her outside, where she would not be haunted by the sound of his mother's terrified screaming.

He was by her side within seconds, watching her as she struggled and then stopped. Her heart rate decreasing fast. He yelled for the paddles as she hit zero.

"Clear!" he yelled as he shocked her once, twice, three times.

Her heart rate stabilized. Weak and low, but existing. When he placed the paddles back onto the cart, he realized that he was shaking. His usually steady hands were trembling as his mind comprehended just how close he had been to losing Cuddy forever. The second time in too short of a period. It was too much. He was reaching the end of his rope and finding nothing left to cling onto.

He checked her vitals now and his heart sank when he realized what her last battle had done to her. The sickness was finally starting to take a drastic toll on her. He rubbed his temples and tried to keep himself impartial, objective.

It was impossible. It wasn't just another patient anymore. It was Cuddy. And it was Dr. Lisa Cuddy that was in a coma, not just another person that House didn't care lived or died.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wilson was just leaving the hospital when he ran into a petite dark haired brunette. She dropped the piles of papers she had in her hands, spilling them in every way possible. He mumbled an apology as he bent to help her pick them up.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Didn't mean to."

"I know Wilson." She said cheerfully. "You were always the nice guy."

The tone and the sound of the voice struck a chord with him and for the first time since running into her, he looked at her face. Stacy peered back at him with a warm smile. He laughed as he embraced her, papers flying everywhere again.

"Stacy, it's good to see you." He said.

"It's good to run into you too." She said with a wink.

He laughed as he bent down again to pick up her papers, handing them to her. She took them out of his hand with a quick thanks and started to walk toward the elevator, trusting him to follow her.

She wasn't disappointed. He followed falling in step with her as she hit the button for floor 4.

"Why are you here?" he asked, curiously.

"Cuddy called me last night from this place and well I assumed that she would want something to cure her boredom." Stacy replied briskly.

"You brought her work?" Wilson asked, eyes wide.

Stacy nodded. "We're career women, Wilson. We can't help it."

He laughed. "I've noticed." He said as they stepped off the elevator and into hectic everyday life of PPTH.

Nothing could have prepared them for the silent turmoil in Cuddy's room, however. They froze in the doorway, watching the sight before them. House was seated beside Cuddy's bedside, his cane leaning against the foot of the bed. His back was turned toward them, so his expression was unreadable, however no one could not catch how his callused hand was intertwined with Cuddy's.

All at once, Wilson realized that House wasn't as emotionally untouchable as he depicted himself. He was bitter, there was no way to second guess that, but whether or not he was beyond saveable was a different story. Wilson had spent so much time wishing that Cuddy was his, he never caught the invisible signs that were emitted from House. Whether or not Cuddy returned that affection was no yet clear, however, Wilson knew that it was time for him to back off. If there was any chance of Cuddy being the person to catch House before he hit rock bottom, so be it.

"What happened?" Stacy demander, her voice shrill with fear etched in it.

House spun around and wrenched his hand away from Cuddy's, letting hers fall limply onto the too white sheets.

Wilson didn't even wait for an answer as he went to check Cuddy's vitals. He already knew, but he just wanted to make sure because it was such an unbelievable situation. He never thought he would see her lying in a hospital bed so helpless.

House ignored him, feasting his eyes on Stacy. "She's in a coma."

Stacy felt wetness in her eyes as she moved to the opposite side of House. Wilson laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze trying to project some comfort into her being. Stacy bit her lip as she kept her tears from falling. She laid the files she had brought with her onto her best friend's bedside table, worry causing her forehead to crease.

"She's only been sick for about 24 hours." Wilson pointed out.

"Only sick that we know about." House replied. "If she has a virus, it could have been lysogenic for years, choosing now to do its damage."

There was a moment of silence before Stacy spoke up, her voice trembling. "So based on that timeline so far, how much time does she have left?"

A long dragged silence followed her question. Wilson looked at Stacy, Stacy looked at House, House's eyes were intently focused on Cuddy.

"Another 48-36 hours." He said softly.

And for a split second, he looked almost scared, almost vulnerable. He knew they saw. He didn't care. It was a moment of weakness that he would allow them to keep.

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Fisher was buried in paperwork when Cameron slipped into the door. She didn't look up.

"Go away, Dr. Cameron. I will not allow the treatment."

"I wasn't asking about the treatment." Cameron responded, shifting her weight to one leg nervously. She never knew if she would lose her job walking out of this office.

The office that Cuddy had once occupied and made her own was transformed. No longer were the lights dim and welcoming, but now bright, almost glaring. The windows she had usually kept open allowing the sunlight to stream in were now tightly shut and locked. The comfortable chairs she kept beside the shelves filled with books were no longer there, neither were the books. Instead there were more boxes of papers and the shelves were filled with ornaments that were more creepy than a decoration.

"What are you bothering me for then?" Fisher asked. "I'm a busy woman unlike you."

Cameron gritted her teeth. "I was just wondering if you could sign a letter of recommendation for me." She said.

Fisher eyed her suspiciously. "Why?" she demanded.

Cameron fumbled over her words. "I was thinking about taking another job at Harvard. The only thing is they want a letter of recommendation from my Dean of Medicine and my supervisor."

It was not that she didn't like her working conditions at PPTH. She was in love with House and stayed for him throughout the years. Helping patients was the light of her life and saving them was the center of it. House was an added bonus. However, the center was the world was slowly being smothered by Fisher's control over the entire hospital. Patients died left and right because of the safe treatments that weren't strong enough and the lack of clearing the stronger ones.

It pained Cameron throughout the day to watch and it angered her to find that Fisher didn't care. As long as House was kept quiet and the hospital didn't suffer any legal damage, she was happy. Cuddy had played it safe but along the edges between ethics and saving lives. Fisher played the game completely under a rock. Cameron had had enough.

Fisher snorted. "Honey you aren't cut out for Harvard." She said, without a hint of mercy. "Stay here or leave now. I'm not signing anything for you."

Cameron glared and was about to object when Fisher waved her out. The look was clear. Dismissed and be out of my sight. With fumes emitting from her ears, she obeyed, striding out with her steps angry and loud.

Fisher watched her go, shaking her head. It was not that she wanted the doctor to stay, but the girl was the opposite of House. She could at least summon some control of the asshole in ways that Fisher could not. She didn't know how the younger doctor did it, but she did, using some kind of blackmail of some sort, Fisher guessed.

Fisher thought that Cameron was House's soft spot, but she never would've guessed that his true soft spot was for the woman who lay dying upstairs.

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Detective Tritter was finally out of the hospital. He didn't like being there. For a moment, he had always felt empathy for Dr. Cuddy, however, that had been short lived. When he returned home and saw the dismal surroundings he had to live with, he felt anger again at what she had done to ruin him.

He wanted to get back at her and to afford to pay the bills again. So he took a step toward winning it all back. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate having his life saved, it was the fact that desperate times called for desperate measures and he was desperate.

He threw his jacket onto the ground and made a phone call to Cuddy's office.

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Stacy was bent over her papers in the waiting room, using her briefcase as a hard surface to write upon. Wilson sank down beside her and handed her a steaming cup of coffee.

"Thanks." She said gratefully.

Wilson glanced at her work and raised his eyebrows. "Cuddy's will?" he asked slightly confused.

"Yeah." She said with a catch in her voice. "She told me that if anything were to happen to her at all, to make sure Jesse was taken care of."

Wilson gave her a sad smile. "Trust Cuddy to always be prepared." He said.

Stacy snorted. "Tell me about it. She had me write her will up the moment Jesse was born."

"Do you think she's gonna die?" Wilson asked.

The question had come out of nowhere. Stacy found herself unable to answer. The harsh reality of death was one she was not yet ready to face. Prepping the will was one thing, a precaution, but actually admitting that Cuddy may die was another, more frightening image that Stacy was not yet ready to think about, too weak to even turn over in her mind.

"God I hope not." She murmured softly.

She felt Wilson's hand upon hers for a moment, as they began to wrap their minds around the reality of the situation. What could be and what they could lose.

"God, please don't let the worse happen." She pleaded, Wilson's thoughts echoing her words.

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Author's Note:

That's the next chapter. I hope you liked it. I'll update a lot more as soon as spring break hits which will be soon. I hope. Or at least the days before spring break when my work load is lighter. Thanks so much for reading!


	10. Breaking and Entering

Chapter Ten

Breaking and Entering

Thanks to HouseAddiction, Boys Don't Cry, Abbeyannmd, mj0621, Kris the fanficaholic, Huddytheultimate, brahmsvoilin, DrusillaBraun, thevigilante15, and RHSecretLove for their reviews! Much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own House. Everything belongs to the producers, directors, writers, the network, and everyone else that it's supposed to belong to. I merely write for fun.

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House's phone chirped and he promptly tossed it into the toilet and flushed. He didn't need it. If there was a medical emergency with Cuddy, they would page him. The phone was merely an annoying tool that Fisher used to yell at him. He wasn't using the bathroom. Didn't feel the need to relive himself. He was sitting on the counter with a giant medical textbook sprawled open on his lap. The men's bathroom was the one place that Fisher would never find him in. He relished that fact.

His silence was once again shattered by an insistent knocking on the door. He tried to ignore it, but it became more and more thunderous.

"I'm shitting." He yelled through the wooden door.

"You've been in there for over an hour." Fisher's shrill voice rang out muffled.

"Lots of crap in my system." House retorted.

"House, get the hell out of there right this second and do your clinic hours!" Fisher yelled.

"I'm trying to save a life here!" He yelled back, trying to control his growing anger.

He wanted to throw open the door and hit her across the face with his cane. Or better yet, beat the crap out of her and then ignore her in the exam room. More knocking, a rise in his temper.

She finally threw the door open and was glaring at him. He looked back at her with a passive look on his face.

"Come close and I'll piss on you." He hissed.

"House…" Fisher started and then stopped, her eyes falling upon the book still left open on the counter.

"You're reading?" she asked.

"Trying to save a life." He said.

"I didn't know you cared." She said, watching him closely, scrutinizing his reaction.

"I don't." He said without thinking. Then he hesitated as his conscious mind caught up with his unconscious on. He did care. He just didn't want to admit it to someone who hated his and Cuddy's guts.

"Well good then." Fisher said, tone all professional. There was an edge to it that House did not like. He wasn't fooling her and he knew it.

"You're fired House." She said.

"What?" He demanded.

"You're fired. I hire people that do their jobs. If you don't do your job then I fire you. It's that easy." She stated plainly, bluntly.

He felt his knuckles tighten on the wood that supported him.

"You old hag." He seethed, unable to control himself. "You can't stand her because she's smarter, brighter than you. I don't know what kind of history you two had together, but it's obvious that she's a better doctor than you'll ever be. You're just an old overweight bitch that always wants to be right."

"House, shut up right now!" Fisher screamed at him.

"Why should I? You fired me. I can't change that. You hate me too!"

"You're an ass!"

"I know. Cuddy knew. Everyone in the whole damn building knows. People outside of this fucking state knows!" He roared. "But they deal with it. You can't! Why? Because I make diagnosises that save people's life and you sit in an office and waste your time. When Cuddy was Dean, she still worked in the clinic or right beside me sometimes. You do the bare minimum and yell at anyone else that does the same. You fucking hypocrite!"

"At least I'm not a drug addict that's willing to put his friend's life on the line for a chance to throw insults at his boss." She said, dangerously, comment meant to jab and to hurt.

He stopped. "I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard to pronounce." He finished evenly before shoving past her and heading toward the elevator.

She watched him go and yelled after him, "You have two hours to get your stuff out of this hospital and leave or else I'm calling security!"

She fumed when she saw him flip her the bird right before the elevator doors shut.

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Stacy was bouncing Jesse on her lap and debating whether or not she should deliver a particular piece of devastating news to House when he walked right past them, his face dark and stormy. She knew at once that it wasn't a good sign. House rarely felt that anger. She had only seen him wear that expression only once in all the time she knew him.

"What happened?" She asked running after him.

His eyes softened at the sight of his child giggling in her arms. He reached out with one hand to stroke her cheek and got a smile in return. She passed the child into his arms and it amazed her how he could so easily shift his weight and cradle her and stand upright at the same time.

"House..." She reminded.

He shook his head and suddenly he looked more worn than he ever had. Forget drinking, smoking or the drugs. Forget the withdrawal symptoms or spending the night in jail. He looked worse for wear.

"I got fired." He said softly.

"House!" Stacy exclaimed, voice both surprised and angry.

"Don't yell at me Stacy, I might hit you." He said tiredly.

"And I'll sue you." She responded without missing a beat. "How can you let that happen? Lisa needs you."

"I know. I just don't know what came over me." He said, looking down at the child that peered up at him with no guards, completely open, no walls, completely trusting.

He had let his daughter down.

"I have two hours to pack my stuff up and tell my team exactly what to do." He said.

She looked grief stricken and let out a shuddering breath. "Then do it." She said evenly.

She held out her arms for Jesse. He reluctantly handed her back.

"I'll pick her up after the two hours and she can stay with me." He said.

Stacy shook her head and said slowly, "I'm her guardian."

House looked stunned. "But I'm her father." He said softly.

"Yes, but Cuddy's orders were clear. I'm to be her guardian until she's 18 if anything happens to her."

"But I'm her father." He repeated.

Stacy let out a sigh. "True and even after Cuddy found out, she still insisted that the child be left with me."

"Why?" he breathed, unable to tear his eyes away from the now sleeping baby in Stacy's grasp.

"Because of your drug addiction." Stacy confessed. "She was worried that you would be a bad example to Jesse."

"I can handle it."

"That's the problem House." Stacy said. "You can't."

He watched her walk away feeling forlorn.

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"Differential diagnosis." He said, striding into the break room as if nothing had happened.

After years, he had become the master of bluff and illusions. His instincts were working overtime as he tried to shrug away the sense of betrayal coursing through his veins. He understood her reason and at some level agreed with her, but he kept thinking about his child and how much he had fallen in love with her in so little time.

"We know it's not encephalitis." Foreman stated.

"Great let's rule out everything it's not." House said sarcastically. "Then maybe she'll hang out until we go through all the remaining medical problems that we learned in that wonderful Hell with fluorescent lights called medical schools."

"You're not helping." Chase said.

"Yes I am," He said. "I'm egging you on. You guys will throw stupid ideas of what it could be and any minute I'll come up with a brilliant idea."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Fever as high as she has, it's probably an infection."

"Ok, check for infections. I want every single one you can think of." He said to Cameron.

"Anything else?"

"It's neurological." Foreman said stubbornly.

"Right. If I remember we already dealt with the brain inflammation." House said.

"Maybe it's something else."

"Cancer?" Chase asked, innocently, just throwing the idea into the medical term cocktail.

With surprising speed, House was across the room an inch away from Chase's face.

"Don't you ever use that word again when we're talking about Cuddy." He said dangerously.

Chase held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry I was just throwing it out there." He said.

House eased himself down onto a nearby chair. "Anything else?"

He was answered with silence. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Okay, do the tests Foreman. Cameron, I want you to make calls to Mercy hospital, her friends, anyone that is remotely connected to Cuddy and fill in the holes in her medical file."

They started to get up. Chase interrupted. "What about me?"

House let out a defeated sigh and his eyes looked almost misty when he said, "Get Wilson and do a biopsy."

"Where are you going?" Cameron asked.

"Away from here. I got fired." He said.

He left them there with bewildered looks.

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"I can't do the biopsy." Wilson said to Chase.

"Why not?" he asked, his voice showing confusion despite the heavy laced Australian accent.

"You suspect brain cancer right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Could explain the coma." Chase replied.

Wilson looked wearily down at his friend, someone he'd loved for a while and known for even longer.

"First off unless she was in the final stage of cancer, it wouldn't progress this fast." Wilson said, taking her hand and holding it in his own. "Second, if it is brain cancer, it's much too close to the brain stem for it not to have a huge risk of damaging normal brain tissue."

"We have to take that chance." Chase argued. "If we don't, she would be dead within a day."

Wilson looked dejected. "She'll hate us if we do it."

"She'll die if we don't." Chase said.

Wilson looked at her for a moment, debating, wondering, regretting. Finally he nodded.

"Sedate her." He said. "She may be in a coma, but the pain will still be excruciating unless we numb her senses."

Chase nodded as he inserted the needle into her arm.

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He was on the road, pushing every speed limit, running every red light, praying that he didn't get caught. He didn't have enough time as it is. He didn't tell his team, but at the rate of progression, Cuddy had less than 48 hours to live. Now more than ever, he needed his own genius mind, his own brilliance, but she trusted in him completely to save her and for the first time in his life, he didn't want to disappoint.

He pushed his motorcycle faster ignoring the protests of the surrounding drivers as he crossed the New Jersey state border straight into New York.

He drove to her house. Her medical file under transfer had said to Mercy Hospital. A call to the hospital by Cameron pretending to be a long lost sister wondering if she was okay got him the exact address. He limped to her front door.

For some reason he knew that the key to the door was no longer beneath the potted plant by her door. He didn't bother to check. He reached up toward the light right beside the door and gave it a hard whack. Miraculously enough, the light didn't break, but a small gold key fell out and hit him on the head. He smiled to himself as he picked it up. _Same old predictable Lisa_, he thought, not even realizing that he had addressed her by her first name.

He pushed open the door was a greeted by a dark room. He flipped on the light switch and saw for the first time what it would be like to have a family. Cuddy had always kept her house neat and orderly, a reflection on her life and personality, but now it was different. Neat as it still was, there was an air of chaos in it and House felt comforted by its presence.

A few stuffed animals were now placed among her throw pillows in a neatly arranged couch. A plastic table filled with coloring books and crayons was the centerpiece of the living room. He pulled on latex gloves, knowing he wouldn't need them. The rooms were too neat for him to dig up anything enormously harmful.

Truth be told, he didn't expect to find anything regarding her illness. He wanted to get to know her better. He wanted to know her life without him, if she missed him at all, if she had forgotten him like he forgot patients.

Pictures hung on the walls. Pictures of Jesse, pictures of Cuddy with Jesse, Stacy and Cuddy, Cuddy's family, nothing of New Jersey and PPTH then House's eyes fell on a framed photograph that stopped him dead in his tracks.

It was the photo that she had taken at the last fundraiser she organized for the hospital. It was one of Wilson, House and the ducklings with Cuddy right in the middle. House was the only one not smiling. He wondered why. Back then, he had been consumed by his own unhappiness, completely blind to the fact that back then he had everything he wanted. He never noticed how much he loved that she was there to lock horns with him until she was gone. Then he wished he had smiled at her more and seen more of that secret affectionate smile she reserved only for him in moments of privacy where the memories of their past flame roared in their ears.

He went up the stairs, slowly and painfully. The first bedroom he saw was hers. He slipped in and smiled at the neatness he had expected. Everything was placed right in their exact spot. The sheets were still gold like he remembered. Her underwear drawer still the stop one of her dresser. Bathroom still lavender themed. There was a picture of Jesse on her bedside table. House fingered the frame with a soft touch.

He poked his head out of the door and knew for a fact that the bedroom right bedside hers would be Jesse's. He wasn't disappointed as he opened the door.

The wallpaper was blue with puffy white clouds. He saw a small black scrawl on one of the clouds and he peered at it more closely. It was Cuddy's signature. He concluded that the art had been hers, though he never knew her to be an artist. The bedspread had the Little Mermaid on it. Toybox was at the foot of her bed. He laughed when he opened it. Right at the top was a stethoscope and a fake plastic syringe. Mini Cuddy was going to be Cuddy number 2.

He slipped back into Cuddy's room, ignoring the bedrooms he knew that were merely used for the always absent guests. Rooms that were neat and decorated but not welcoming to him. He wanted to be close to her, not to some stranger that had never been there.

He laid down on her bed and started to twirl his cane above his head. His mind racing as his body calmed. He would think of a diagnosis. Even if it killed him, he would think of one.

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Author's Note:

And that's the next chapter my friends. Read and enjoy! I'm going through a House withdrawal. My VCR screwed up and so I missed the last two weeks of episodes. So sad. Anyway, I hope you like it!


	11. Australia

Chapter Eleven

Australia

Thanks to Houddy fun, Boys Don't Cry, thevigilante15, RHSecretLove, mj0621, Abbeyannmd, RogueButterfly, DrusillaBraun, HouseAddiction, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, and Huddytheultimate for their reviews!

Dislcaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to House. Everything in relations to that show belongs to FOX, its producers, and the writers. I claim ownership to nothing.

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"It's not cancer." Wilson said, placing the file on the clear break room table.

The ducklings dropped their heads, as they felt another blow to their confidence level.

"Did we do any brain damage?" Chase asked.

"Too soon to tell." Wilson said. "We won't know until she wakes up."

"If she wakes up." Foreman corrected.

They looked at him for a long moment. He had just voiced the secret fear that was in all their minds. The one that they had been unable to voice so far.

"Your resignation papers." Fisher said, as she entered the office without a knock and handed Cameron the packet and then leaving without even a greeting to any of the other doctors.

It had been fine when Cuddy did it, since she and House were on a level of understanding that the ducklings still had yet to figure out. But when Fisher just entered as if she owned the place, it slightly irritated all three of the younger doctors.

"You're quitting?" Wilson asked bewilderment written on his face.

Cameron stared down at the papers, biting her lip. "Yeah." She said softly. "Today's my last day."

Wilson let out a scoff and shook his head at her. "Cuddy talked House into hiring you." He said suddenly. "She wanted a female on the team to balance out the testerone and when she needs you, you bail on her. Great, Cameron. It's what you're good at. Go. Run. Your crush, House isn't here to bring you back this time." Wilson said, his voice sounding ugly to his own ears. He got up and left without a backward glance.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, all three of their pagers went off.

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He laid there for hours, with no genius ideas popping into his head. This was a first for him. It was exhausting and it was painful. The time he needed his unquestionable brilliance the most was the time that his own mind let him down. His sense of betrayal was childish, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything.

He heaved himself to his feet as he fought a war with another onset of tears. He rarely cried. Never gave enough crap about anything to allow it to bring him emotionally down to his knees. Not until the day Cuddy left. Still he refused to lose the war.

He limped toward the front door and paused as he caught sight of something leather hanging on the wall of the living room. He moved toward it for a closer look. Then quickly pulled out his phone.

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"Clear!" Chase yelled as he placed the paddles on Cuddy's chest and flinched when her body jolted.

"BP's still dropping." Foreman yelled.

"I can fucking see that!" Chase yelled back.

"Now's not the time to argue." Cameron yelled over them, her voice panicky in spite of herself.

Wilson rushed into the room and pushed past the nurses. He watched Chase try another attempt.

"Clear!" Chase said, trying again to no avail.

"Come on Lisa." Wilson murmured. He shifted his gaze only a moment to find Stacy standing outside the glass walls with her hand over her mouth, her eyes a dead giveaway to her fear.

Chase tried a third and fourth time as Wilson's cell phone went off. He was about to chuck it into the wall when he realized that it was House. He watched them try to revive Cuddy as he answered.

"It's the Hendra Virus." House's voice rang through the line right in place with the rest of the chaos.

"What?" Wilson exclaimed. "No way, that has no ground for even a discussion."

"What's going on over there?" House asked, hearing the noise and the yelling. "What's going on with Cuddy?" he was unable to keep the fear from crawling into the very core of his voice.

"Her heart stopped beating. Chase is trying to revive her." Wilson said hurriedly.

"WHAT?" House practically screamed into the phone, making Wilson drop it.

"Clear!" Chase yelled as he zapped Cuddy one more time, knowing that it was past time to give up, yet completely unwilling to.

Cameron was biting her lip.

Finally the BP rose a little. Then faster, until it was once again steady. Below average, but steady.

"She's stable." Wilson announced as he picked up the phone.

He heard a soft sigh of relief, almost inaudible, but existing.

"Why would you think it was a Hendra virus?" Wilson asked, completely confused.

"Let me talk to Fisher and my ducklings." House said.

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Five minutes later, the ducklings and Wilson were all gathered in the Dean of Medicine's office.

Fisher was eyeing Wilson's cell phone with a piercing glare, as if it were really House standing there, not just House on speakerphone.

"You have no evidence that it's the Hendra virus. There have only been three cases recognized." Fisher said.

"You have to give her the cure for it. It's the only thing that makes sense. Her symptoms, the speed of progression it all makes sense." House said, his voice scratchy.

"House, the Hendra virus doesn't exist in the US." Cameron spoke up from her place in the corner of the room.

"Shouldn't you be gone by now?" House asked in an irritated tone.

She rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't." He continued. "But Cuddy's been out of the country."

"How the hell do you know that?" Fisher demanded.

"I'm in her house now. There's horse bridle hanging on her wall. Says made in Autralia on it. Looks like she went to Chase's home country." House said.

"How do you know she went there?" Fisher asked. "It's just a bridle."

"People don't hang bridles in their living room because they want to." House said. "They hang it in a barn. Cuddy doesn't have a horse and she doesn't ride, which means this bridle is virtually useless. But she hung it on her wall, which means it has a sentimental value to her, which means either she's been in Australia or she really likes bridles." House said.

"The virus has probably been in her system for a while. It just decided to rear its ugly head now. Kill it with ribavirin and it's gone forever."

"Makes sense." Chase said.

Everyone else sent him confused looks. He shrugged.

"House is usually right."

"Too dangerous." Fisher concluded. "First off, that diagnosis has more chance of being wrong than right, and that drug is still in a study. It hasn't even been investigated yet."

"It's her only chance." House said firmly. "and I'm taking it."

"I won't put the hospital in the middle of an investigation if she dies." Fisher argued back. Voice rising.

"You have to do it!" House roared. "I don't give a damn about your damn hospital. I don't even count it as your hospital. It's sucked ever since you walked in the door. Do the damn treatment now!"

"You have no authority to authorize it!" Fisher shrieked back.

"Actually he does." Came a quiet, yet firm voice from the doorway.

Heads turned to find Stacy standing there, holding a file and an expression that said that she would not tolerate argument or opposing ideas.

"Who the hell are you?" Fisher seethed, angry that someone she didn't know would dare to go head to head with her.

Stacy was unfazed. "I'm Dr. Cuddy's attorney." She said. "This is her file. Under next of kin she has her daughter, but the person to decide her medical treatments is Dr. House, therefore he has the power to order this treatment."

"She trusted House with her life?" Fisher asked, aghast.

"Yes." Stacy said simply, daring Fisher to challenge her. "Now give her the treatment before this hospital is hit with the biggest lawsuit known to man and then a criminal charge on your ass as well."

Fisher was fuming as she glared at Stacy who was no doubt shorter, yet made up for the height difference with fierce determination.

"Fine. Do the treatment." Fisher finally said after a long moment of unbreakable tension.

The ducklings obeyed at a run.

In Cuddy's house, House smiled a little. She was going to be okay. He was sure of it and it was the first ray of hope he'd allow himself in a long time.

"I'll be there soon." He said then hung up.

He was on the highway within minutes, once again pushing the legal limits to his speed.

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His timing was perfect. Rushing through the door the moment she opened her eyes. His team greeted him with all smiles and House realized that the room was already filled with people.

Stacy was perched in a chair right beside Cuddy's right side. Wilson stood behind her with his hands on the back of chair and House noticed that she was leaning into him slightly. Cameron and Chase stood at the foot of the bed while Foreman busied himself with double checking that Cuddy was stable.

Cuddy greeted him with a tired smile.

"You came through." She said softly.

"Always." He said just as softly, before he thought about what he said.

She gave him another weak smile.

He walked toward her and checked her pupils. He then checked her pulse, even though Foreman already did it.

"I'm okay." She said gently.

"People lie." He replied.

She rolled her eyes. "Same old House." She muttered. "So what was wrong with me?"

"Why didn't you tell me you went to Australia?" He asked.

"You didn't ask." She replied shortly. "What was wrong with me?"

"Hanta virus." He said.

"What the hell?" She gasped staring at him. "That's one of the rarest diseases in the world."

"Yeah and you, Lisa Cuddy, decided that you would be one of the special people and get it when you went to visit the people down under." He said.

She rolled her famous blue eyes again. "Thank you, Dr. House for your sunny sarcastic comments. They really have made my day." She muttered.

"What were you doing in Australia?" he asked.

"I wanted a pet kangaroo." She replied sarcastically.

"Kangaroos are illegal to bring to the States." He said plainly.

"House, it's really none of your business." She said, her tone firm, end of discussion.

House ignored her tone completely. "Well if it's none of my business that means it's personal. Personal means private dating life. But you're Cuddy you don't date. So either you were breaking into your wild girl streak and forgetting your job, or you were in a serious relationship that I want to gossip about."

Neither of them noticed everyone else trying to sneak out of the room without seeming awkward or uncomfortable. They only noticed when they were the only two left in the room.

"Tell me." He said softly. "Are you involved with someone? Or did you really want a kangaroo, though I always thought of you as a more of a koala person."

"Ok, House, enough with the marsupials." She said, holding up a hand, like a traffic cop. "Yeah, I was in a relationship."

"With Chase?" he asked. "I mean he's the only Australian we know."

"Yeah _we._" She said. "But _I _know a few, and so I was dating one at first for a few months."

"Few months doesn't mean a trip to Australia." House mentioned.

She glared at him. "We were together for 6 months. Broke up in Australia okay? I flew back. He didn't." she stated. "End of story. My happy ending."

He noticed a few tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. She let out a soft sniffle as she wiped them away forcefully. It was pathetic to cry, especially something about this.

She looked up at House. "There. You happy?" She demanded, allowing her anger at her lack of control to seep to the surface. Anger was simple. It was clean. It wasn't shameful. "I'm barely awake for five minutes and you're already making me what to hit you with your cane."

"Very." He said, his tone serious as he sat down beside her.

She scoffed. "Whatever House, get out."

"No." He said.

"Why? You've got your answers. You can stop humiliating me now." She said, her tone still as authoritative as ever.

"I wasn't trying to humiliate you." He said matter-of-factly.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever House. I'm gonna sleep. Tell Stacy to bring me Jesse."

That reminded him of something else. "Why can't I take care of Jesse? Why don't you trust me?" he asked bluntly.

Without a verbal answer she reached into his pocket and pulled out his half empty Vicodin bottle.

"Because of this." She said, her eyes serious and with a touch of regret and sorrow in them. "Because I want her to have father who will lead her in the right direction. She watches the people she's around, and I don't want her to imprint off you, at least not in the condition you're in now."

He must have looked forlorn because her voice dropped a few decibels as she continued, "House, you're brilliant. No question about it and I am so proud that Jesse shares half of your genes. She'll be as clever as you, and probably just a sarcastic." Cuddy smiled at the last part, a smile that tugged at him and made him want to embrace her small frame in his larger one.

Her eyes bore into his. "You'll make a great father someday, House, when you change your ways. I don't expect you to change. I don't expect anything from you because you always disappoint when it comes to admitting you're wrong."

Then unshed tears began to fill her eyes. "I know you love Jesse. You don't have to admit it, but you do. I just need to think what's best for her and you're not the best until you get off those drugs. Not just soon, but now."

"Unfortunately, Jesse can't wait. And neither can I."

He watched her and then closed his eyes. With a sigh, he walked out of the room, feeling his heart tighten at the thought of the look in Cuddy's eyes and her words. She stared after him with the familiar sense of tears starting to overwhelm her. She wanted him so bad. She wanted him more than anything, but knew she had to do what was best for them all. She wanted to be the woman in his life. She wanted Jesse to know her father, be raised in a normal home, where Mommy and Daddy tucked her in at night and Mommy sang her to sleep while Daddy helped her with her homework. She wanted all that and more, and she wanted it with House. She just didn't know if she could trust him completely when his judgment can be so easily clouded. The last thing she wanted was to see her daughter hurt, like she had been. The last thing she wanted to see was her daughter jaded.

He wanted to change, but he couldn't. He never wanted to be vulnerable, but he was. He was weak and unable to change, even if he wanted to. The truth was, he never wanted to. He chose to be the way he was and never had any regrets. None until he lost Lisa Cuddy and his daughter.

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"We have to tell Cuddy." Meredith said.

The two others shook their heads. "No, she's still sick. Added stress won't be good for her."

"If we don't tell her on, things are gonna get worst and they'll be even harder to fix." Meredith argued back.

Sloan pulled her back down into the seat in Cuddy's office. "If we tell her now, she'll want to race back here and deal with it herself. She's sick. She needs to rest and recover. We should try to handle this ourselves."

Meredith sighed. "Tritter is an ass. I can't believe he's pressing charges for conspiracy. What grounds are there?" she huffed. "I guess I won't tell her. Not until she's better."

"That's the best course of action." Burke replied.

The truth was Tritter wasn't dropping the charges. He wasn't even planning to. He would never forget the fool Cuddy made him out to be in that courtroom. He would never forget the smirk on House's face as he emerged from that room as a free man. He would never forget the challenge that Cuddy had set before him and beckoned him to try his best to hurt House. She stepped in front of the cripple, protected him, and forced Tritter to back down.

He wouldn't this time. He found the quickest way to exert his revenge. He knew Cuddy had a daughter. With the hours she worked, and her reputation as a career woman, it wouldn't be difficult for him to call Social Services and question the amount of attention put on the child. If he can get lucky, he might even be able to charge her with neglect.

He threw the newspaper he was reading into the trash and light a cigarette. He had started smoking again not long after he was fired. Now this case, if he could prove it, would put him back on the force. Ruin the people that ruined him, then he would be back on top. He had little doubt that he wouldn't succeed.

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Author's Note:

THIS IS ME! Hehe. Sorry this update took a while. I'm gonna start working on the next chapter right now. This one wasn't that great, just closing some problems so that I can start new ones. MUAHAHAHA! Thanks for reading!


	12. Stay With Me

Chapter Twelve

Stay With Me

Thanks to Boys Don't Cry, Huddytheultimate, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, Abbeyannemd, and thevigilante15 for their reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Property of House belongs to Fox, David Shore, and their rightful owners. No profit made.

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"Stay with me." 

"What?" She asked, her expression completely surprised.

"Stay with me. Your recovery isn't complete yet. But since you insist on leaving the hospital, stay with me." He said.

"I can't. I have to get back to New York." She said, impatiently tapping her feet at the waiting tone on the phone.

She hadn't driven back to New Jersey so she had no car to drive back. Wilson had to work. However, House was unemployed but unwilling to take her home. He didn't tell her why and she knew better than to ask. Not to mention, she was still a little weak on her feet and the chance of her falling asleep at the wheel was incredibly great. Her last resort was to fly, if the airlines ever picked up the phone.

"No you don't. Knowing you, you probably have about three years worth of vacation days saved up." He said.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up." She muttered.

He grabbed the phone from her and tossed it in her purse across the room from her. "Stay with me. You and Jesse." 

"Why?" she asked. "Jesse cries all the time. You can't stand me. So why?"

He looked at his feet. For a moment, silence lingered between them. Then he said, in a quiet tone, one where Cuddy had to strain to hear him. "You're taking Jesse. She's still my child and I'll never get to know her, so I mine as well take the opportunity to spend some time with her before I never see her again."

His voice was etched with something she couldn't determine. Was it pain? Was it regret? She didn't know. She wanted to and had an idea. She couldn't turn him down. Not after noticing the true message he was trying to convey without even knowing it.

"Fine." She gave in, her voice just as quiet. "Fine."

The smile he gave her was enough to lift her a few stories and make everything worthwhile. She smiled back. Little did she know that this one weekend together would be a turning point in her life. 

She didn't know what was going on, but House was being extra nice to her. He was carrying her duffel bag over his shoulder as he limped toward the house. Jesse was in her arms and a baby bag slung over her shoulder as she followed him.

He set her stuff in his bedroom and smoothed the covers. She tilted her head at him, wondering what he was doing.

"You and Jesse sleep in here. I'll take the couch." he said.

She shook her head. "Your leg will hurt in the morning." She said.

"My leg always hurts in the morning. You're recovering from a deadly virus." He responded briskly.

"Why?" She asked, her voice almost a yell, confusion written in every line on her face. "Why House? WHY? You're never caring, at least not to my face. You're always on the borderline of cruel. Why are you doing this now?" 

He looked at her with a wry grin. "Because I want to get into your pants." He said, his usual snarky self.

She rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed and cradled her daughter in her arms. "Well not going to happen. You get the couch." 

He gave her a pout before limping out of the room. He poked his head back in. "You need anything. Get it yourself." 

She laughed silently as his head disappeared again. She changed her daughter and fed her. Then House brought in a crib that they had borrowed from the hospital. She sung her child to sleep before exiting the bedroom to find House sitting on the couch watching the Discovery Channel.

She sat down beside him, not noticing the way his breath quickened ever so slightly or the way his gaze slide onto her from the corner of his eye.

"Those are huge turtles." She stated as she tucked her legs under her. 

"My uncle is a turtle." He said.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure." She said, "Makes sense. You move about as slowly as one. Genetics is a powerful thing."

He laughed out loud. She found that she liked the sound. It was warm and held nothing back. Something that was so rare from him. She wanted to hear it again.

_No. she told herself. I can't go down this road again. I can't fall for him._

He heaved himself to his feet and grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine.

"You drink wine?" she asked.

"Special occasion." he said, pouring them both a cup.

"What occasion?" 

"Ok fine, I just want to get you drunk so you'll be extra loud in bed." He replied, his voice not even sarcastic, just overwhelmingly innocent.

She rolled her eyes as she took a sip of the strawberry wine, feeling her shoulders instantly loosen. 

The next hour or so were uneventful. Snippets of conversation and both of them relaxing in each other's company though there was a degree of tension that had nothing to do with disliking each other. In fact it was quite the opposite. . It was just like college again. Friends, closer than friends, best friends, just spending time together, forgetting the world outside of House's apartment. It was familiar and it was welcoming.

His blue eyes made her breath quicken and when their hands grazed each other, she would apologize under her breath, trying to contain the thunderous pounding of her heart. It was so easy, so simple, that Cuddy found herself walking down the dangerous road between friendship and the line that divided that and what she truly wanted.

He was eying her with shameless gaze. She felt a flush begin to fill in her face. He didn't seem to notice, or at least gave no sign of it.

Truth was he saw it. He didn't want to but he did. He knew his full on gaze was embarrassing her, but he couldn't look away. Her blue eyes were completely focused on the screen before her. He saw her but didn't see her.

He saw her apple white skin, but didn't see the sweat that was starting to coat it as she tried containing her own emotions. He saw her hands on her lap, but didn't see the way they clutched at each other, showing the white of her knuckles. He saw her chest rise and fall with each breath, but he didn't see the irregular rhythm of it as it came too quickly.

A cry broke the moment and before he had a chance to react, Cuddy was already in his bedroom, lifting out her daughter and speaking softly to her. He leaned in the doorway and watched them, a trace of a smile taking years off his face.

She felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, knew he was there. She turned and offered Jesse to him. He took the invitation and cradled Jesse with a gentleness that surprised her.

She cried and without a word of compliant he went and changed her diaper. Cuddy was staring after him with her eyes popping out of her sockets.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Changing her diaper." he replied. "Jeez Cudds, I question how the hell you got this far with your poor deduction skills."

She pursued her lips together. "No cussing in front of the baby." She said briskly.

He grinned at her. A knock was on the door and Cuddy moved to open it, revealing Wilson and Stacy.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure that House hasn't killed you yet." He teased.

She laughed as she moved to let them in. They froze when they saw House changing Jesse's diaper.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Wilson asked.

"No cussing." Stacy corrected.

"Sorry." His gaze was focused on the unbelievable sight before him.

"Ah!" House yelled. "STUPIDITY SINKING INTO BRAIN! LOSING BRILLIANCE, MUST GET RID OF WILSON!"

Jesse giggled. House smiled fondly at her. 

"Yes. You see Dr. Wilson has nothing on Daddy. Daddy's smarter and better looking right?" He teased his child, lifting her up and rubbing his nose in her stomach.

She clapped her hands and squealed with laughter. Cuddy laughed in spite of herself and took Jesse out of his arms.

"What did you do to him?" Wilson asked again.

"Jeez Jimmy. She turned me into a Stepford Wife, can't you tell?" House asked sarcastically.

Stacy rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Cuddy. "Are you staying here for the weekend?" she asked.

"Yeah, are you heading back to New York?" Cuddy asked.

Stacy shook her head. "I would drive you back if I were. I've got a conference here. I'll be here for at least a week."

Cuddy nodded. Jesse let out a loud scream. 

"She needs to be fed." Cuddy said.

"Oooooo, Cuddy's gonna break out the boobies." House said.

She whacked him gentle on the chest. Wilson watched the exchange between them and got a strange expression on his face. It seemed like they'd been married for years, instead of just friends that had crossed the line a long time ago. 

There was a crash from the kitchen and Cuddy shot up. Jesse didn't stir at the noise, but Cuddy started for the door, worrying that House had hurt himself, or that something had hurt House.

She saw House wince as he rubbed his leg. She knew the cold weather settling in did a number to his leg. She was instantly by his side, supporting part of burden herself.

"I'm okay." He said.

"Liar." She replied without missing a beat.

She helped him onto the couch.

"I need to see your leg." she said.

"You want to get in my pants?" he asked, bewildered.

"I need to see your leg." She repeated. "We're doctors. Let's act like doctors."

He winced again as another shot of pain went through his system, but obediently pulled down his pants. She examined his scar with sad eyes. Her fingers lightly grazed his wound and his breath quickened. She didn't seem to notice as she moved away and made his way to his bedroom.

How she knew where his wooden box filled with painkillers was, he had no idea, but she knew. She came back with empty hands.

"Morphine?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No." she said gently.

"I need something to kill the pain." he said.

"We've already proven that it's a mental issue." She reminded as she poured made her way into the kitchen and started to heat up some water.

"Why did you go back in my room?" he asked, confused.

"To hide your morphine in a place that you can't find." She said without turning.

"WHY?" He demanded. "And what are you doing now?"

She shushed him with a finger to her lips. "You'll wake the baby." She said softly.

"You don't need it House." She said as she went to her duffel bag and pulled out a packet of tea leaves. "And if you're gonna be near Jesse, I don't want you to have it."

"You think tea is gonna make me better?" House asked sarcastically, his voice dripping with venom.

"No, the tea's for me." She said, brewing it without a backward glance.

"You're evil." he muttered.

She poured herself a cup and walked to him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "House, you need to understand something right here and right now."

He was listening. She knew he was, even though his expression told her he was in pain and probably a little bored.

"You want to be Jesse's father. You want to be in her life and you're snippy with me because I'm not giving you that chance. You want to know why?" she asked.

"Do I?" he asked.

"I don't care. I'm telling you anyway." She retorted. "Your drugs are not good for her. She imprints off the people around her. She imprints off me. She will imprint off you if you're around her. I refuse to let her fall the same way you did and then ignore everyone that's trying to save you."

She wrapped a hand around his. Her eyes were serious. "Prove to me that you can change House and maybe I'll change too." she said. 

"Fine." he said, heaving himself to his feet. "When do you want me to start?" 

"Now." She replied. "And it's a lifetime commitment, House. You back out on me, I will make sure you pay for it."

He didn't reply, just looked back at her just as seriously.

"I don't know if I can." He said.

"I'm staying here for one weekend, House. If you can change even a little, show me in this time period. If you can't, I'll be gone by Monday morning." She said.

Her tone told him that there was no room for discussion. And he didn't bother to argue. Didn't ask for more time. Didn't ask for any mercy. He knew her thoughts. He understood and deep inside he agreed with her. Her maternal instincts told her to protect her daughter at all costs, even from the child's own father. He understood and he admired her for it.

He wanted to change, wanted to control his drug use and he knew she didn't want him to quit completely. She wanted him to control it, lessen on it and quit being dependent solely on that high. She wanted to end his pain, but it wasn't just the physical one. It was the emotional burden he carried as well. She wanted to end it and now she was forcing him into a corner.

Despite all of the bantering and the denial of their feelings for each other, he knew her real message. He loved her and a small part of him believed that she loved him, though neither of them would say it outloud.

She was telling him that he had a choice…her or Vicodin. The sad truth was, she already knew that she was not going to be his first choice.

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Author's Note:

I never expected this story to be this long. Does it seem endless? Lol I built up a lot of potentially dramatic situations and now this story is trying to resolve all of them. This part is going to be my favorite though. Maybe House will change. Maybe he won't. Who knows, not even me. Hehe. Enjoy! And review please if you liked it. 


	13. God Bless Catastrophe

Chapter Thirteen

God Bless Catastrophe

Thanks to PaulaAbdulChica2007, Huddytheultimate, starstacey, HouseholicMD, thevigilante15, DrusillaBraun, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, Boys Don't Cry, HouseAddiction, csi7, Abbeyannmd, and gabiroba for their reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with House. All rights belong to David Shore, the writers, and Fox, plus their respective owners. No profit made.

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"I believe taking the child out of her current situation right now is the best course of action." Tritter stated to a room full of social workers, cops, and attorneys alike.

"Why should we listen to a washed out cop that took advantage of a relationship with his ADA girlfriend?" A blonde, slim woman asked from the back.

He grimaced, recognizing the voice. Alex Cabot, ace attorney and running for DA election. He wasn't fond of her and she wasn't fond of him.

"Because I have observed the suspect and victim in question." He said. "I know my reputation at this station as become a joke, but you never stop being a cop. Watching Dr. Cuddy and her daughter, have led me to believe that her job does not allow her the time and attention her daughter desperately needs. We vowed to protect and serve. I am here to do both."

He eyed her closely. "And Counsel, no offense, but doesn't your job circulate in the courtroom, not in the investigation?"

She smirked. "Just thought I'd learn what it's like on the other side of the fence." She replied slowly, sure he was going to retaliate with a smartass remark. She wasn't disappointed.

"Then learn Ms. Cabot, don't try to teach a dam how to feed a foal." He seethed at her.

She fell silent, not because she was afraid of him, but she wanted to know what he was up to. Nothing good, she was sure of that. He turned his attention back to his audience, the board, the people who were the biggest obstacle in his brilliant plan.

"Now, Dr. Cuddy is a great doctor. I don't deny that. I would be the first to argue that she is. However, her career is the very thing that makes her a bad mother. She needs to focus on her daughter's needs, not her job or how far she can go to be on top. I'm not saying take her child away from her forever, I'm saying long enough for us to do a thorough investigation. We are here to protect children, even from their own parents. We need to act and we need to act now." He announced.

A few people were nodding, completely blind sighted by Tritter's pretty words and colorful language. Alex had to give him props for his speech. He already gained support, but she knew the woman he was talking about and she knew he was digging his own grave. She said nothing as she quickly slipped from the room, unseen and unheard and not even considered a threat.

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They sat side by side in silence, watchful yet completely calm. Jesse asleep in the crib before them. She sneaked a side glance at the man that sat beside her.

His eyes were soft and affectionate. The bitter lines that surrounded them were disappearing and his expression was gentle. The stubborn lines around his mouth that came from too much frowning were faint in the dim light. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning. He was amazed, in awe of the puny person before him. She had never seen him like that before and it surprised as much as it warmed her. She never wanted it to go.

"She has her father's ears and nose." She whispered.

"She has her mother's eyes." He said back, in a tone just as soft.

It was so comfortable between them and he imagined what it would be like to spend every night like this. A family, something he never thought he could have, but in some little corner of his heart, always wanted.

Jesse stirred and let out a soft baby sigh, drifting further into sleep and they slipped from the room and firmly shut the door, blocking out all noise into the room. Cuddy set up the baby monitor placed it on the table beside the couch.

Outside in the living room, things were silent. The lights were dim but the wind was howling outside. December was coming and soon. Cuddy shivered as the cold seeped into her thin nightgown. House saw this and he wrapped a blanket that had been sitting on his couch around her. She gave him a grateful smile as she settled on the couch.

Without even realizing his movements, he slung an arm around the back of her chair. She nestled into his arms, seeking warmth. He gladly obliged and then realized what he was doing. He froze and so did she.

"What are we doing?" she breathed, not even knowing she had spoken outloud.

"Giving in." he said simply.

She stared at him. "To what?" she asked. "To this? To this disaster that we know is going to happen?"

He caught her hand and held it tight when she tried to pull it out of his grasp.

"You're leaving in two days, Lisa." He said softly, gentle, completely different than the usual House. "I won't see you ever again, probably, or Jesse. For one weekend, can we just relive college, relive the memories we've made in the past? Just for one weekend, then you can go back to New York, be Dr. Cuddy, the supermom and doctor and I'll go back to being House, the jerk and smartass. But for one weekend, let's be Lisa and Greg, what we were before pride and the harsh world changed us, jaded us."

She wanted to. Desperately. She understood him. Knew that his regret was as strong as her own. She always knew there was a deeper, more complex side to him than the usual cynical one he feigned to the world. She always knew it was there and part of her knew that she was the only one that was able to expose it.

Working with patients had taught him one thing, and that was how quickly life can be snatched right from your grasp. He hadn't listened to the message each dying patient tried to convey to him. He had ignored each one that tried to tell him to love and to never let a chance slip through his fingers.

He hadn't listened and he had treated life as if it were as disposable as latex examine gloves. He hadn't learned until she left. Until the only stability in his life was ripped away from him. Then he learned the lesson that so many people had tried to save him from.

He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

She looked at him. Full on, eye to eye, heart to heart, looked at him. He saw turmoil, regret, and fear in her blue eyes. Then he saw longing and a hint of what could have been passion or something else altogether.

He made his move.

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Warning: Next part might be a little graphic for some readers. It's only a little snippet, so I didn't change my rating. I've never tried to do a scene like this before, so please forgive me if it's sketchy. If you do not want to read about House and Cuddy going at it, scroll down until you reach the next set of X's. Thanks!

**huddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddyhuddy**

His mouth found hers and for one split second she was at a loss for what to do. Then habit and memories filled her as her heart took over what her mind should have been in control of. She kissed him back. Every moment filled with passion and pure desire.

He kissed her just as hungrily and with a raw primal strength that left her breathless. He tangled his hands in her long curly hair and she ran her soft fingertips down the length of his back, leaving him shivering and wanting more of her touch.

Seconds later, they were both bare and staring at each other once again.

"Wow." He breathed as his eyes traveled up and down her slim figure, fingers gently stroking her apple white skin.

"Same goes for you." She whispered back in his ear, kissing his neck.

He did the same procedure on her until she was sure there would be a bright vivid hickey on her neck the following morning.

When she felt him inside of her, a soft whimper escaped her that she didn't even know she made. He was gentle yet completely rough and passionate. He needed her, wanted her and she needed him just as badly. They made love over and over again, consumed by hot fire and relentless desire, longing, and the fact that they had waited so long for the satisfaction of being so close. Each time he muffled her scream with his mouth, kissing as she felt the ripples of pleasure wash over her and then smile at the look on his face when he felt the same pleasure that made him shudder with pure bliss.

Then they lay still, completely worn and satisfied. She rolled over in the cramped couch and laid her head on his chest, tracing gentle fingers around the scar on his leg. He stiffened for a moment, but she ignored him, just running her gentle touch upon the scar that caused his bitterness. She then kissed the wound and buried her face in his chest. He pulled her closer to him, recalling what it felt like to have a woman that wasn't paid in his arms. He kissed her forehead and she responded by snuggling closer.

He watched her in the dim light and remembered their agreement. Two lonely people that needed some love in their lives. Nothing permanent. Nothing lasting. No promises of love or forever exchanged. It was a weekend of no strings attached romance, just long enough to pretend to be a family, but not long enough for true commitment.

It was bittersweet, but thoughts of the situation left both their minds as they fell asleep in each other's arms.

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They laughed at each other's jokes and chatted over wine and candlelight.

"It was sweet of you to take me to dinner." Stacy said with a bright smile.

"It's really no problem at all." Wilson replied with a smile that mirrored hers. "It's not everyday two of your best friends come back into town and one as pretty as you are."

"You're flirting with me." Stacy called him out.

"Yeah, and I've had too much wine." He retorted, leaning back in his chair. "Too bad you're married."

She laughed. "Yeah." She mused. "Such a sad situation." She stated sarcastically.

He grinned at her. "Well I'm an old friend. I'm entitled to flirt. Anyway, if your husband ever pisses you off, call me. I'll teach him a lesson or two." He joked.

She grinned back at him. "Sure, and he'll probably beat you over the head with the first thing he can get his hands on."

Wilson flexed his arms. "Oh yeah, I can take him."

Stacy laughed at his actions, completely amused and enjoying herself.

Conversation continued throughout the night without even a second's pause in between. They had so much to catch up on. So much to talk about and so much that they were never going to say because it was too many years too late for them to say. Friends that go way back and lovers that would never be.

They were never the center of attention. Their affection for each other was quite in contrast to House and Cuddy's. Those two argued. Bantered and every second they were trying to prove the other wrong and win a battle of wills and wit. Stacy and Wilson were the opposite. They had an easy relationship, filled with long conversations and the simple things that couples did. Only they weren't a couple and because of Stacy's marriage, they never will be.

They didn't let it affect their friendship. In some ways, they were more stable than House and Cuddy. Where those two needed each other in a blind passion and primal attraction that was undeniable and unmistakable, Wilson and Stacy could survive without the other. They only need to know that the other was well and happy and that was enough.

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She awoke at the first crack of dawn and forgot where she was for a moment. Staring straight into House's sleeping face, she smiled. She kissed him gently on the cheek, sure that he would not awake to know her act of affection that was more sweet than sultry. She slipped from his arms and quickly slipped into her clothes.

Her daughter was still sleeping and for a moment, Cuddy watched her, admiring the miracle given to her. She kissed her daughter's forehead and stroke her cheek. The child cooed and stirred but did not wake. Satisfied that her child was safe, content and would not wake, she hopped into the shower, allowing the cold water to wake her up to a new morning and wash the looming thoughts of potential disaster with House from her mind.

He heard the shower and sat up. Beside him on the pillow was a small indent of the formerly sleeping Cuddy. He smiled as he traced his scar. She had felt the source of his destruction and she had chosen not to hate him for allowing it to change him. He made his way into his bedroom and smiled at Jesse.

She was still sleeping and he sat down on the bed and watched her. Then she awoke. No scream was heard. She merely looked up at House and grinned. He laughed and picked her up.

"Good morning!" He said, cheerfully. "How are you, half-pint?"

She giggled.

"Daddy doesn't have work today, so you don't get to see me boss stupid assholes who are a lot stupider than Daddy around. Of course, Mommy always bosses Daddy around, so it would probably be old to you." He teased, completely unaware of the profanity he accidentally slipped into his sentence.

She clapped her hands and laughed.

"I just did not hear you say that." Cuddy said coming up behind House and wrapping her arms around his waist. She leaned her head onto House's back and her daughter peered at her curiously.

Jesse the laughed and grabbed a fistful of Cuddy's hair. House tilted his head at them curiously.

"Her favorite toy." Cuddy said, with a good-natured roll of her eyes.

He smiled. "Mine too." He said, pulling at it as well.

"Grow up." She said.

Then he gave her an expression that looked so much like Jesse's pout she snorted and laughed. It was adorable yet completely hilarious at the same time.

"Nice." She said. "Now I know who the baby is."

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Tritter walked into PPTH with a smug grin on his face and a social worker in tow behind him.

"What room is Ms. Lisa Cuddy in?" he asked the head nurse Brenda.

Brenda looked at him up and down for a moment, recognizing him. She was still extremely loyal to her former boss, and despised the trouble this man caused and him being the cause of a new Dean being put in place. Cuddy may have believed that no one knew the real reason she left, but Brenda had her ways of finding out things that occurred in the hospital, so she knew Tritter's method of blackmail.

"_Dr_. Cuddy has been discharged." She said briskly. "I have no idea where she is."

Tritter leaned in closer to her. "I'm sure you have some idea, you just won't tell me."

She met his square in the eye. "I don't know and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." She hissed.

He fought the urge to slap her. Instead he turned and walked toward the Dean of Medicine's office. Brenda snorted.

"If you think she'll know you're sadly mistaken. Nobody here will tell her anything." She said as she gathered some files and started to head for the elevator, throwing a smug grin over her shoulder.

He felt a wave of frustration as he found his way to House's department breakroom. Cameron was the only one there, reading up on patient files.

"Dr. Cameron, do you have any idea where Dr. Cuddy is?" he asked her, putting on a smile that one would expect from a favorite uncle.

"No idea." She said, eyeing him.

"Dr. Cameron, I think you should know the situation. Dr. Cuddy is a suspect in a child neglect case. We are not arresting here, but merely investigating the claims. Dr. House no longer works here and I'm sure you find the cause of his leave incredible unjustified. Please do not make things worse for yourself by ignoring the law."

"I quit." She said. "I'm just finishing the paperwork for this file and I'm out of here."

"Well Dr. Cameron, I'm sure you would want to save a child whether or not you have this job." He said.

She sighed deeply, but the loyalty that had driven her to defend House again and again was not present at the moment. Defending Cuddy wasn't as easy. Why? Because Cameron had always felt a certain degree of jealousy toward her. Cameron was never jealous. Her entire life she had always been the sweet innocent one that never raised her voice and never questioned her morals.

After working with House, however, she found herself feeling negative energy for the first time. House felt it almost all the time, but he executed it in a way that made so much sense and ended gaining a positive outcome. She could not do the same.

She wanted what Cuddy had. She wanted the big office, the amazing job. She wanted House to stare after her and for the rest of the boys to gawk at her yet completely respect her in the process. She wanted to prove House wrong and save lives that were deemed unsaveable. She wanted to be confident enough to dress the way Cuddy did and to stand up to House the way she did. She wanted to be like her and found that it was easier to hate someone you wanted to replace.

"Chase told me she was staying with House." She gave in.

Tritter smiled at her. "Thank you Dr. Cameron. From the deepest crevice of my heart, I thank you."

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The door was thrown open and Cuddy jumped back. Without a second thought House was standing before her. Their mouths fell open when they saw Tritter standing before them.

The social worker, Jamie, had a look of contempt. She didn't think that throwing open the door was really necessary. A simple knock would have been sufficient.

"Dr. Cuddy, you are a suspect in a case of child neglect. Upon impending investigation, we need to remove your child from your care until the investigation proves or disproves these allegations." She said, her tone professional.

Cuddy was speechless. Her throat worked but no sound came out. Someone was actually accusing her of being a bad mother. Tears filled her eyes and House felt pain radiate out of her and seep right into his skin. He reached for her hand and was surprised when she pulled away.

"You can't have my baby." She said, her voice iron.

"We have no choice, ma'am." Tritter said, barely able to keep the glee from his tone.

She whirled upon him and glared at him. "You son of a bitch!" She ranted. "You fucking son of a bitch! I saved your fucking worthless life and this is how you react to it? You accuse me of neglecting my child and try to take her from me? You worthless, stupid moron!"

"I don't think such language is appropriate of a mother who's within earshot of her child." He said, more smug than ever.

She wanted to hit him, again and again until he stopped moving. She had never felt such murderous hate in her life, never even knew she was capable of feeling such a strong emotion, always thought herself to be above such petty emotions. Now she realized she was just as human as anyone else. She was just as much a victim to her emotions as anyone else and every moment that she stood before Tritter with her fists clenched brought a furious pounding hate into her.

He walked around her and into House's bedroom and emerged with Jesse. Jesse was wailing, screaming. Demanding that he put her down and hand her back to her mother. He ignored the cries, completely unsure of how to comfort a baby.

House's heart broke at the pitiful sound. Cuddy was crying now, not even trying to hide the tears. He reached for her again. She moved away. He gave up. Just watched in quiet fury as Tritter handed the child to the social worker. She walked out with the child, still screaming.

Cuddy spoke up. "I'll get her back Tritter and I'll prove that you're nothing but a cop that abuses his power." She seethed.

"We'll see. I took your job. I can ruin your family just as easily, Dr. Cuddy." Tritter said to her. "House I'm done with. He's as miserable as he'll ever be. He'll probably kill himself in time and I'll throw a party at his funeral."

Cuddy took a step toward him. "Shut up and get out." She hissed at him. "Shut up, you ignorant bastard that can't deal with anyone outsmarting you. Well fine, you want a trial. I'll give you a trial. I took the stand once and I'll do it again and Tritter, this time you won't escape unscathed or burned. I'll show everyone just what you do to get your way."

He took a step toward her now and raised a hand as if to hit her, but House stepped in and knocked Tritter's leg with a cane. Cuddy was immediately pulling him back, whispering _it's not worth it_into his ear. House was breathing hard as Tritter came in for a retaliation. Cuddy pulled House toward the floor, but caught the punch straight on the jaw. She winced as she felt the impact of the hit, knock her to the ground.

House felt newfound fury and with a yell, began to throw a punch at Tritter. Cuddy grabbed his arm and held it firmly.

"No, House. It's not worth it." She said to him, her voice pleading. "Please, just let it go."

They were all breathing hard. Tritter sent them one last nasty look and stormed out. House turned to kneel beside Cuddy. For a moment there was silence. Not a sound from House's bedroom or the empty crib. It was lonely and desolate.

With a soft whimper, Cuddy lost her mind, her senses, and herself altogether. She broke down in sobs. Each cry causing her body to shake and shudder. She sobbed into House's arms as if her heart had broken. He held her close and felt wetness fill his eyes and though he was silent. His tears trickled down his face and landed on Cuddy's hair, where they stayed.

They stayed like that for hours, crying, knowing that across town Jesse had never stopped since she left the safety of Cuddy's arms and sight.

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Author's Note:

That is the next chapter. I know there was some smut going on in the middle. Hehe Coudn't resist, after I saw Airborne again. Of course, there will be some Tritter ass kicking, hopefully. Crazy asshole. Anyway, enjoy!


	14. Mirror Image

Chapter Fourteen

Mirror Image

Thanks to EOshipperSVU-MSR-HUDDY, DrusillaBraun, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, Marish89, gabiroba, scheggia, Boys Don't Cry, HouseAddiction, Abbeyannmd, csi7, thevigilante15, mj0621, Huddytheultimate, and PaulaAbdulChica2007 for their reviews. I greatly appreciate it.

Disclaimer: All things House belong to David Shore, FOX, and their respective owners. No copyright reserved. I don't own anything. No profit made. I just like messing with their lives.

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It took all of House's strength to pull Cuddy to her feet. She was like a rag doll, all limp as if her strength had left with her daughter.

"Come on Lisa." He coaxed gently in a voice that she didn't even now that he was capable of. "Get up. Go wash your face and we'll figure this out."

She allowed him to set her on her feet and walk her into the bathroom. He splashed her face with cool water, allowing her to lean onto his chest despite the pain that was no doubt making his leg ache. He didn't care. In her state, House was terrified. Cuddy was so strong. She never let anything get to her. Only now, she was like a child. Terrified of losing the one thing that she loved the most. Terrified, hurting, and in desperate need of comfort. He wanted to take care of her, but also knew that when she regain her composure there was no way she would let him.

"I'm okay." She finally said, steadying herself on the bathroom counter and peering at her red swollen eyes in the mirror.

"I'll get you some wine or something." House started.

She caught his arm. "I need the phone." She said.

In those split seconds he saw a change come over her. Broken she was, but she was not dead. She was still breathing and he saw the grief in her eyes replaced with anger that burned. She was a fighter. Always had been, always will be.

"That's my girl." He said softly, taking her hand.

She gave her a half smile. He smiled back slightly. "This time I'm gonna stick by you."

"You don't have to." She started.

"I want to. Don't think I'm gonna crawl in your pants and then leave you by yourself, Lisa. I'm an ass, but I'm not that much of an ass." He said.

She gave his hand a squeeze. "You could've fooled me." She said.

"I fooled everyone." He retorted.

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Stacy was at House's apartment within minutes with Wilson by her side.

"Did we miss something?" Cuddy asked when she saw them come in.

Wilson shrugged, but Stacy returned the question. "I think it's us who missed something." She said, eyeing House's hand clasped over Cuddy's.

"Losing our child kinda puts our battles aside don't you think?" House asked sarcastically.

"Wait what?" Wilson demanded.

House rolled his eyes. Cuddy had filled Stacy in on the phone, but no one had filled Wilson in since Stacy had been on the phone with Cuddy until she walked through House's door.

"Can we please ignore Mr. Clueless for a moment and figure out what we're gonna do?" House asked.

Stacy sat down and took Cuddy's other hand, meeting her eyes. "Do you want me to represent you?" she asked.

Cuddy nodded. "You're the best I know."

Stacy shook her head. "Yeah, but I'm a constitutional lawyer, Lisa."

"Does this mean you can't help?" House asked harshly.

Stacy threw House a momentarily glare. She knew House was as upset as Cuddy was, but while she expressed her grief through tears and unrelenting strength, House expressed his through harsh comments and hide his feelings through sarcastic remarks. It was the only thing she had learned about him during their relationship.

"I can to a certain extent, but it depends on how much money you guys are willing to spend and how scared you guys are." She said.

"Money is no object." Cuddy interjected. "And I want the best possible chance to get my daughter back."

"Then I suggest you get more than one lawyer." Stacy said. "I'll represent you at no cost, as a friend, but you're going to need someone else who's done these types of cases before."

Cuddy nodded.

"Got someone in mind?" House asked.

Stacy nodded. "I think you guys already know her. I recommend Madeline Poe. I met her in law school. She's good and she's done a ton of cases like this before."

"I still have her number." Cuddy said.

House smiled at her. "That's Cuddy. Always prepared. Glad to know you haven't changed."

Cuddy returned a smile. "You haven't either." She said before disappearing into the bedroom for her purse.

Wilson was watching this exchange.

"Oh my God!" he breathed. "You're sleeping with Cuddy."

"If I throw a stick at you, will you leave?" House asked.

Stacy rolled her eyes. "Guys stop. Lisa's going through hell. Can we please leave the hallway gossip until after prom?"

"She's not the only one." House muttered.

"You care…" Wilson said, his mouth wide open. "You actually care about her and about Jesse."

"Does your train of thought have a caboose?" House asked.

At this Cuddy came back into the room with a business card in hand. They made the call together and after an appointment was made. Cuddy and House both felt a little more secure. The emptiness they felt, however, could not be mended until Jesse was back with them.

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Cameron did not want to answer the door. It was the last thing she wanted to do. She knew who was on the other side. The knocking became more insistent and with a sigh she opened it.

Chase stood before her with a disappointed expression on his face.

"I can't believe you really quit." He said.

"It's not really worth staying if House isn't there." She retorted, not moving to let him in.

He didn't even try to move past her. Just stood there and stared at her dumbly.

"You still like him."

"Why does it matter to you?" She demanded.

"I thought you were smarter than that." He said. "I thought maybe you were secure enough in yourself not to let him dictate your actions and the rest of your career."

"You're a hypocrite. You try to kiss up to him so that you'll be his favorite. You refuse to acknowledge how messed up he is and what he needs!" Cameron yelled, losing her temper.

Chase wasn't faring much better. He got called a kiss up all the time, but to have her call him that when she was much too insecure to even hold a job irritated him.

"And what he doesn't need is you." Chase retorted.

"How do you know?" she demanded. "Maybe I can save him."

"The only thing you can save is if that person already knew what was wrong with them." Chase said.

"Are you calling me a bad doctor?" she asked. "You killed someone."

"Well at least I don't change my mind according to the put downs I receive. Cameron, you can't save him. You can't even come close." Chase said. "It's the cold hard truth, but it's the truth."

"Were you here to make me feel better or just to scold me like I'm a stubborn child?" she asked.

"The problem Cameron is that House doesn't see past the child. You cling to him. You can't think for yourself and do you think he likes that?"

"Do you think I like you at my doorstep?" she screamed at him.

"Fine. I'll leave, but I suggest you stop chasing after him. The faster you run toward him, the faster he'll run away."

"He can't run." Cameron stated bluntly.

"Right because your feminine charms are that much greater than Cuddy's." Chase muttered sarcastically.

"I'm just as good as she is." Cameron said.

"To some people you are." Chase said, not telling her that that 'some people' was him. "To others, you don't come close. And I'm sorry Cameron, but House falls in the latter category."

With that Cameron slammed the door in his face. He leaned his forehead against the wood, muttering the F word, hating himself for ruining a civilized chat between two friends had gone so bad.

She felt the tears come and she leaned her head against the door and sank to the floor, tears coming fast. She was still in love with House, but it was becoming more and more obvious that he had no feelings for her in return. It hurt and she had refused to believe it, but now when it was obvious that even Chase saw it, she could no longer deny it.

The truth will set you free, but it just seemed to destroy her further.

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Cuddy cleaned when she was nervous. House learned that quirk about her about two hours before Madeline Poe and Stacy were supposed to show up for a meeting about the case.

"You already got that spot." House said from his place on the couch.

Cuddy paused in her attack at the smudges on his window. "You're running out of Windex."

"I'm a bachelor. I don't clean." House muttered.

"I've noticed."

A knock and Cuddy was at the door before House could blink.

"Whoa." Stacy said, stepping into the apartment.

House was silent as Cuddy hastily put away her rubber gloves and cleaning supplies. Stacy had a small smirk on her face. "I'm guessing Cuddy did it."

"How'd you guess?" House asked sarcastically.

"You should've seen her in college." Stacy said.

"I heard that." Cuddy said, coming in and giving Madeline a hug.

"It's good to see you." Madeline said and then smiled at House. "And nice to see you without the handcuffs."

House snorted in laughter. The mood intensified as Madeline began to lay out papers on the coffee table.

"His main base of evidence is your job. Because of your position, his claim is that you neglect your child."

"She does no such thing." House said. "Have you seen her with Jesse?"

Stacy put a finger to her lips. "We know Cuddy's a great mother." She said. "But the jury needs more than someone's word. They're gonna need solid, nonargumentative evidence and it's our job to provide that."

"Of course, we're going to put Lisa on the stand." Madeline said. "The jury should see the consequence of coming out with a guilty verdict. Condemning a hard working doctor life without her daughter."

"I think we should put House on the stand too." Stacy said.

Heads whirled to stare at her. Stacy shrugged.

"It just makes sense. He doesn't have any guardianship of the child, but he is the father. He also knows Lisa very well."

Madeline saw where she was going. "I'm guessing you want the jury to see Lisa."

"I don't understand." Cuddy said.

House was on the same boat as Cuddy. He didn't understand. "I'm a jerk. I'll hurt her more than help her."

"No." Madeline stated. "We want the jury to see all of Lisa. Not just the doctor portion. We want her to see her friends, her family, the people that know her well. Paint her as a well rounded, real person."

Now they understood. House and Cuddy exchanged a quick glance. They were going to expose her life like they did with House. They had suddenly switched places. Cuddy in the defense chair and House in the witness box. House knew that he had no idea what kind of hell she was going through. He had been down this road and she had saved him, now the tables were turned.

The difference, however, was that he had chosen the path that brought him into that courtroom. He knew he may end up there, but he hadn't cared. She, however, did not chose a path like so. She had been the definition of a great mother and now it was some sick bastard taking revenge that was causing her so much pain.

He felt guilt. He always criticized her for feeling it, but now he knew why she did. This whole disaster was technically his fault. If he hadn't made the mistakes he had, she would have never shed the tears she had been shedding. He had so much to make up for and for the first time in his life he felt like he owed someone. Looking at her now, he knew he would never be able to repay the full debt of what he owed her.

They were going to have to rip her life apart. Fully expose her to the world and dare them to make judgment. He had been there, sitting there, watching each question invade his privacy and he, himself, became fully open to scrutiny. She would now face the same thing. And just like she had been there for him, he was going to hold her hand the entire time.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" House asked. "They're going to rip your clothes off and expose you to the world."

Cuddy winced at the simile. Her memories of the night before were all too vivid. Pleasantly vivid of course.

"I've been ripped open my entire life." Cuddy said with a small smile. "Besides, I'm used to you being your boss and all."

"Glad to be of service." He said grimly.

She turned to her lawyers. "Let's do it and as soon as possible."

Madeline nodded. "You have the right to a speedy trial. Let's take advantage of it. We'll go to trial in two weeks."

Stacy agreed. "Gives us time to write arguments, questions, prep you and your witnesses, and then draw up all necessary papers."

Cuddy's expression did not change. She looked angry, sure of herself, almost vengeful. Fear was out of her and her tears had run dry. She was ready to fight. Neither of the lawyers missed the way Cuddy clenched onto House's hand, however, nor the way her knuckles were white, the only sign of her growing apprehension.

He wasn't faring much better as he popped another Vicodin. Little did they know, he had just exposed their biggest weakness. Only it had become so ordinary, they never saw it as such.

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Author's Note:

I know I haven't updated in forever and I am very sorry for that. Life has just been so busy. Well better late than never. Here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. The next one will cover the trial. I was hoping to capture the similarities between this trial and House's. I don't know if I got that point across. Still I hope you guys like it.


	15. Drive Me Away

Chapter Fifteen

Drive Me Away

Thanks to RHSecretLove, DrusillaBraun, mj0621, EOshipperSVU-MSR-Huddy, gabiroba, HouseAddiction, Boys Don't Cry, the vigilante15 and Huddytheultimate for their reviews!

Disclaimer: I own nothing House. I just wish I did.

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Cuddy was doing the dishes when House came home. Once glance at him told her everything she needed to know and wished she didn't. His steps were even more erratic than usual and the stench of alcohol filled the apartment, hitting her like a two ton bus. She set the dishes down and walked toward him, catching him when he nearly fell over.

"Greg, what the hell?" she murmured as she helped him onto the couch, wrinkling her nose at the heavy scent.

"Noneofyourbusiness." He mumbled, slurring his words together. "Noneofyourdamnbusiness." 

For a moment, Cuddy just glared at him. Angry that he would do such a thing. Angry at herself for believing that he may change.

"Did you drive home?" she asked, panic rising in her voice in spite of her best attempts to remain calm and reassuring for his behalf.

He fumbled in his pocket and dropped his keys, mumbling indescribable words. She picked them up and knew that he had indeed driven home on his motorcycle drunk. She regretted letting him leave the apartment that morning. He said he was going to try and get his job back. Trying to make a better appearance in court. If both of them had their jobs and respected jobs, then the judge couldn't say that House was only an addict that offered nothing to society.

Obviously his request had been denied and he had drowned his emotions with whiskey shots and vodka on the rocks in a lonely bar. Now she was simply grateful that he hadn't gotten killed or killed anyone else.

A knock at the door called her attention. She checked the time. It was about time for Stacy to come over. Without checking who it was she pulled it open and then stepped back.

Tritter grinned back at her with the smile of the Chesire cat. "May I come in?"

"No." She said quickly, starting to shut the door. "Unless you have a warrant or something."

The sound of throwing up came from the couch behind her. Tritter could not wipe the satisfied grin from his twisted face as he leaned his weight on the door, forcing Cuddy to move back to avoid being clocked in the face.

"Well, looks like House overdosed again didn't he?" he pointed out. "I wonder what the jury will think of that when I bring up what kind of home life Jesse has."

"Jessica." She corrected. Jesse was the nickname that family and friends had given her daughter. Tritter did not fall in that category. She tried to force him back, but he was stronger than her and heavier, keeping the weight on the door, keeping it open and his eyes focused on a more than little drunk House.

"I came to serve you with a warrant granting us a request to keep Jesse away from you during the trial." Tritter said, handing her a folded piece of white paper. 

She took it with frosty eyes. "You son of a bitch. I'll get her back. This is all just your stupid attempt at revenge." She said through gritted teeth, clenching her fists, forcing herself not to lay a hand on Tritter's smug face. 

He tipped his hat at her with another smile. "I'll be seeing you Lisa."

"Dr. Cuddy." She corrected before she slammed the door with all her might in his face and sank down onto her knees, closing her pretty blue eyes, slumped on the ground. Once she regained her composure she began to play doctor again, walking toward House.

"House, that was Tritter." She said coming back beside him, assessing his dilated pupils and his other vitals.

"So? Whocares?" He mumbled, leaning his head onto the back of the couch.

"He's the cop that has our daughter." Cuddy threw back as she took a damp cloth and wiped the corners of his mouth. "You just showed him why she shouldn't be with us."

"Maybesheshouldn't." He challenged. Just as surly and cocky as he always been, but the alcohol clouded his judgment, his thoughts. He felt comfortably numb and Cuddy's voice seemed to be off in a distance, unreal. He couldn't think clearly. Words came before his mind could react to them. He couldn't even tell by the expression that was plain on Cuddy's face that those words had cut. And cut deep.

"Fine." She said, voice trembling, her hand clenched around the towel. She was shaking and trying to hide it. "Fine."

Hurt coursed through her veins. Disappointed laid close to her heart as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes furiously. House was too drunk to notice. She knew her life had been fine before House had reopened the door she had tried so hard to shut. Like a fool, she had believed that she House would change.

There was no other option. She had given him time to change. Chances upon chances and he had thrown them away without even a glance behind. Almost mockingly he threw the doors she opened for him right back in her face and she had suffered the bruises time and time again. She understood taking the edge off with a drink or two, but Greg House was the definition of extremes. If it had only been her, she would've done what she'd always done. She would have wiped his mouth and taken him to bed, making sure he was safe and alcohol poisoning was not an issue. Then lie beside him until the morning came. However, she had her daughter to think of and she refused to let Jesse be caught up in the middle of House's destructive habits. He brought hurt and pain to anyone around him and Cuddy had endured it, but she refused to let her daughter be caught up in his tangled web of a downward spiral. If he believed that Jesse didn't belong with them, then that was what she would do. There would no longer be a 'them'. It would only be her. She would take Jesse away and they would forget about Gregory House. 

With her mind made up, Cuddy went to work. She took House's keys and hide them in the one place she knew he could not get to while he was drunk. On top of highest cabinet. She had to climb up the counter to get there, but she did it. Then she helped him, complaining and stumbling onto his bed and tucked the covers around him. She took his pulse and vitals, satisfied that he was merely very drunk and not in danger for his life.

With a tear in her eye and a heavyiness in her chest, she kissed his forehead, touched his face, and memorized every aspect of him. He fell asleep while she watched him. With one last kiss on his lips, she slipped away and shut the door behind her.

Her next target was the kitchen. She poured every bottle of alcohol down the drain and recycled the bottles. She took his Vicodin and dumped all but two pills down the drain. The two would be for him in the morning. He would have to refill it the next day. No chance of him overdosing that night. Her eyes skimming the apartment, she was sure she had taken his drugs from him, before she remembered the box beneath his bed.

When she saw him sleeping, she almost hesitated, given up. Almost crawled into bed beside him and forgot about her decision to leave. Held him close and confessed her feelings to him like she had done a thousand times while he had been sleeping. Her maternal instinct, however, kept her together as she took his morphine and codeine from the wooden box and cleared the liquid and threw the needles away.

Then she was sure she had taken all things that could've harmed him away. With a sigh of regret, she slung her bag over her shoulder and once again, disappeared from his life.

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Chase and Foreman were the only two sitting at the glass table in the diagnostics department. Files lay scattered on the clear table with sunlight streaming from the windows. Despite the busy caseload, the whiteboard loomed before them. Forbidding, taunting, yet familiar. 

Neither of them could bring themselves to pick up the markers. For Chase it was out of respect, though he would never admit it. For Foreman it was out of insecurity.

Finally Chase completed his moment of silence, then went to the whiteboard and picked up a black marker. He wrote down the first symptom without a word.

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House awoke with a start to a pounding headache and cold. With his eyes closed, he reached for Cuddy, sure she would be there, snuggled up to him. But he found no one as his eyes flew open in panic. She wasn't beside him as she should have been, tucked in his arms, her warm breath on his neck. Her place was cold and so was he.

The apartment was deathly still. He jumped to his feet and fell down again as a sharp pain shot up his leg and he felt it throughout his entire body. He stumbled, breath coming in gasps. He saw two white pills sitting on his bedside table next to a glass of water. He gulped them down.

Then he limped out of the room. Immediately he knew she was gone. The dishes were washed and put away. However, any trace of her was gone, except a trace of her perfume. She had left him. And his pounding head told him why.

He recalled the two little pills he had taken. She had laid them out for him. Tucked him in and made sure he didn't die through the night. He could not recall what he had said to her and that scared him. What had he said to make her run? Was it forgivable? What if it wasn't? What if she ran off and wouldn't come back? What happened now? What about Jesse?

A thousand questions concerning the night before coursed through his head. Tritter. That much he remembered. A knock on the door. It had been Tritter, but that was it. What had he done? How did he hurt her again?

But as he rubbed the ache in his leg as the pain subsided, he knew that even through her own pain and hurt, she had still taken care of him. And once again, he had let her down.

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Cuddy laid her bags down in a desolate hotel room. Noises from a television in another room was her only company as she stared off into the wall. It was cold and she closed her eyes as a wave of misery fought of overwhelm her as Gregory House limped into her thoughts. She fought him off.

Then busied herself with phone calls, unpacking, and watching the newly released Martha Stewart prepared cupcakes.

The only sign of her weakness, her grief, and her fear as the ever so slight trembling in her hands and the small waver in her voice when she spoke. There were only two people who could've known how she felt at that moment alone in a hotel room. Herself and the man she left behind.

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Wilson found House in a piled mess that afternoon. He and Stacy stared for a moment at House, who lay on the couch staring at a blackened tv screen, not even noticing them entering his home.

"What happened?" Wilson asked.

"Where's Lisa?" Stacy demanded, shoving him aside. House was her friend, but Cuddy was her best friend and if she wasn't where she had said she would be Stacy wanted to know why.

"Gone." House rasped harshly.

Wilson was in shock that House hadn't downed the lethal combination of alcohol and Vicodin again in his depressed state. He looked like hell, but he wasn't drunk or high. A yellow piece of paper was enclosed tightly in House's hand. House threw it at the wall with a stormy expression on his face.

Stacy retrieved it. They read its contents and exchanged glances.

"She must've taken his pills." Wilson sighed in obvious relief.

Stacy breathed easier as well. "That's Lisa. Always thorough." She murmured.

"I'll get him another prescription and stay with him. You might want to track down Lisa." Wilson suggested.

Stacy nodded. "I'm guessing she's the one who left me a message." She said, checking her cell phone and then slipped out of the apartment. A moment later, a car could be heard pulling out of the parking lot. Wilson's car.

Wilson noticed a text message on his cell phone and sighed when it read it.

"Keys are on top of the highest cabinet. – Lisa"

Wilson glanced at House, who was staring off into space. "I messed up didn't I?"

"Yeah you did." There was no way to sugar coat it. House had screwed it up. They had only planned for one weekend together. One weekend to relive everything that they had missed, but in secret, Cuddy had confessed to both Wilson and Stacy that she was falling in love again. That she would have been more than willing to stay if she got her old job back and House could be a father to Jesse.

That's when they had prayed that House would see his errors and change. Then they now realized that it was too much to ask for.

"I don't want to keep doing this." House was murmuring as he closed his eyes.

"She doesn't want you to keep doing this either. So why did you do it?" Wilson asked, being cruel to be kind. Forcing him to face her leave.

"I just don't know. I don't know why. I wanted to take the edge off. Then I just kept going." A memory triggered in his mind. _Shit._ A blonde girl. A young blonde girl and House couldn't remember anything else.

"There was a girl."

"You slept with someone?" Wilson demanded. His voice rising a few notches. "You slept with someone?"

"I don't know." House groaned. "I can't remember."

"Oh my God." Wilson yelled. "I can't believe you would do that to Cuddy. I can't believe you would just throw her away like that. Don't you know she opened a door for you when she agreed to stay for a weekend? Then after Jesse was taken, she stayed here. Couldn't you fucking see that she opened a door for you to be with her again and you threw it shut in her face?"

House didn't answer. Wilson mistakenly took his silence for contempt.

His voice became low and slightly cold. "If you did sleep with someone, if you were blind enough not to realize what you had in your hands and you threw it away from some blonde bimbo in a bar, then you deserve everything's that's happened to you and it is your fault that Cuddy is being dragged through hell with you."

House didn't answer. Just stared at the floor as he listened to his best friend slam the door shut and call a taxi. His own stupidity had costed him not only Cuddy, but his best friend as well. He didn't know how much more he could take.

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Author's Note

I know that was a bit hurried. I just wanted to paint Cuddy's once again exit so that we can give House entry to do something wonderful to win her back. I don't believe that House is a total jerk. I think he would do things for Cuddy that he wouldn't do for anyone else. So therefore, I am going to make him stand up and do something in the next chapter. Lol. Tell me if you loved or hated this chapter. I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. I'm like going through a giant period of writer's block. The next chapter will be better. At least, I hope so.


	16. Turning Around

Chapter Sixteen

Turning Around

Thanks to CalleighWolfe (TalkCSI), HouseAddiction, gabiroba, mj0621, PaulaAbdulChica2007, HouseholicMD, Boys Don't Cry, KarGra, RHSecretLove, EOshipperSVU-MSR-HUDDY, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, DrusillaBraun, Bambi McBimbo, and Huddytheultimate for their reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own House. I just like toying with the show's characters' lives. David Shore and the show's producers, they rock!

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"You're not okay." Stacy said softly when Cuddy opened the door to her hotel room. 

"I'm fine." She threw back, wiping away furious tears, voice only trembling slightly.

"You know how he is. He's always been like this." Stacy comforted as Cuddy moved aside to let her in.

"And I can't take it anymore." Cuddy sat down on the bed and looked at the floor, forlorn expression on her face. "How'd you find me?"

"Figured you'd want some place far far from House but still close to the area you're most familiar with. This place is the only hotel that had any vacancy and no need for a reservation within ten miles of PPTH." Stacy shrugged.

She snorted in spite of herself. Stacy was her best friend for a reason. They knew each other inside and out and times like these Cuddy was glad for that connection. Stacy knew exactly how she was feeling and she didn't try to make her explain herself or convince her into any course of action.

"My life is falling apart." Cuddy said, her voice distant, as if she were miles away instead of sitting on a too stiffly made bed in a lonely hotel room talking to the only person who could listen and understand.

"We'll put it back together." Stacy promised.

"I don't think I can take it if I lose my daughter." the mother cried.

Stacy placed both her hands on Cuddy's shoulders and shook her gently. "Lisa, you've been through hell without batting an eyelash. You took down Vogler, saved House from Tritter once already, testified on the stand knowing what it would cost. You had to leave the position you worked your entire life for and take a job that was beneath what you were used to. You're a single mother and still run a successful department in a hospital that is greatly respected in New York. Most people who would have fallen apart in your position. But you didn't just survive. You thrived."

Stacy wiped a tear from her friend's face. "If anyone can walk into that courtroom and command attention, respect, and show Tritter for the bastard he is. It's going to be you." 

A small smile tugged at the corner of Cuddy's lips. "Thank you."

Stacy stood up and slung her purse over one shoulder with a half grin. "I'm gonna go and get our case ready. Madeline's got it covered but it wouldn't hurt to have two heads instead of one."

Cuddy nodded. "Keep me updated." 

"Yep." Stacy called back as she let herself out. 

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Wilson was asleep on House's couch when Stacy stormed back into the apartment. Already it was a mess. At least more of a mess than when Cuddy left it.

House was slumped up on the couch as well. For a moment Stacy thought he was asleep. Then realized when she faced him that his eyes were staring off into space. She ignored him and went to Wilson.

"James" she murmured, giving his shoulder a gentle shake. "Go home and rest. I'll stay with him for a little while."

Wilson stirred and rubbed his tired eyes. He would have argued but there was a catch in Stacy's voice that told him that she wanted some alone time with the diagnostician. Wilson wondered why for a moment, feeling a pang of hurt. He had loved Cuddy and when she had fallen for House, Wilson backed off and let her be. He was starting to fall for Stacy and if she turned out to fall in love with Greg House's sarcastic charms then Wilson may just saw through his cane a second time.

He didn't argue. Just grabbed his coat, sneaking a concerned glance at Stacy who flashed him a warm smile. He couldn't help but return it.

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"Greg, stop moping right this second." Stacy ordered. For a moment, she reminded herself of Cuddy when House did something crazy, genius and stupid.

He didn't answer.

On a desperate whim, Stacy rapped the side of his head with her palm. He winced and turned to fix a penetrating glare at her.

"I'm giving you two choices." She continued. "Either stay in your state of self pity and lose Lisa without a fight or fight to win her back and undo the mistakes you've made."

"How?" he asked, his tone desperate, lost, almost childlike.

Stacy lay a thick file before him, letting it fall onto the coffee table with a loud statement. "Help us win this case." She said. "Testify. Flick off Tritter once and for all. Get Jesse back, then there might be a chance she'll forgive you."

"Greg! Just show her you care enough to do something about it!" Stacy said, voice rising slightly as if the louder the volume of her voice, the more House would listen and obey.

He looked at her for a moment. His eyes a chaotic mixture of pain, grief, hope, longing. Wanting to take the offer laid on a silver platter before him. Afraid to mess it up. Afraid to refuse.

She pushed it toward him. "Greg, this isn't just about you anymore. It'll never be about you again if you want Jesse or Cuddy in your life. It'll always be about your child. You and Lisa's. That's what she wants to know, what she wants you to prove to her. That you'll throw away your safety net, your pride, your fears for the one thing in her life that is more precious to her than life itself."

He took it from her. Callused hands gently tracing the lines of neatly written black ink notes. A change coming over him as if he were making the decision of a lifetime.

"I'll do it." His voice was slow, but deliberate. He had a gleam in his eye. The one that he got on the homestretch of a case. The one he got when he was positive he was right and nothing anyone else said would or could convince him of anything else.

Stacy smiled, knowing full well that he would stick with this until the end. That she would not be standing beside Cuddy and Madeline wondering if he would let her best friend down once again.

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I don't know what possessed me to do it. I'll admit it. I've always been a little selfish. Maybe extremely selfish. I pushed Lisa away in college because I wanted something exciting to happen. I knew I probably lost her then but I didn't care, until I realized what it was like without her.

I'm obviously also a coward. The shame that comes with making mistakes is something I have come to hate. Yes, I don't feel that way medically because I've come to terms with that and refuse to be riddled with guilt, but experiencing fear when it comes to my personal life is something I feel ashamed about.

It's caused me to lose so much. I pushed my own child away because I was afraid to raise something so innocent, afraid I would ruin it. I should have had the courage to change for her. I feared my pain like a pending murder. I feared it and I let that fear interfere with everything I held dear. I won't do it anymore.

Lisa gave and gave and I made fun of her for it. Criticized her for it when I clearly had no right. I've never known such generosity or selflessness, certainly never acted in such a way. She saved me. Time and time again. I may have ruined the one good thing I've given to her. I won't turn down the chance, even if its just a chance, to save her one time. 

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Wilson marched into a smoky bar. He made his way immediately to the bar and sat down, looking for the bartender. A bulky man with a tattoo of a cross on his arm. He looked tough and Wilson gulped slightly. He was determined to get to the bottom of House's confusing night here.

"Hey what do you want?" He asked.

"I need information. I'm James Wilson." Wilson started, offering a hand.

The bartender took it with a grip that Wilson could have sworn made his bones crack. "Tony."

"Nice to meet you." He replied, forcing himself not to wince from the pain in his hand. "Have you seen this man here?" He asked pointing to the middle figure in an old picture.

Tony glanced at the worn picture Wilson held up. "Yeah. He was older though. More scruffy."

Wilson doubled checked that they were talking about the same person. "Did he walk with a limp?"

"Man, anyone who was throwing back shots like he was would walk with a limp."

"Did he have a cane?" Wilson asked, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah." Tony shrugged.

"Was he with anyone the night he came in?" Wilson asked, preparing himself for an answer he did not want to hear and more than ever did not want to share with the brunette that would be heartbroken.

Tony looked thoughtful. "Yeah sorta. There was a blonde hanging all over him. Introduced himself as a doctor. I'm guessing she was one of those woman who wanted a doctor for herself."

"Did they leave together?"

Tony shook his head. "He was beyond drunk and even a sober man wouldn't turn down something like her. Pretty thing she was, but he must've had something better cause he just shrugged her off and told her to get lost. She sorta shrank off and I asked him if he needed me to call a cab. He just cussed at me and walked off. Didn't think much of it. Drunk people usually behave like that. Why? He kill someone?"

"No." Wilson said, sitting back and relaxing. Even in a drunken haze, House had enough sense not to completely destroy the trust Cuddy had in him. A part of him was proud. Another was disappointed. Another was indifferent. He had cheated and he had regretted it. Second chances were nearly impossible to come by. Stacy's face suddenly popped into Wilson's head for a moment.

He shook his head.

"That his girlfriend?" Tony asked, jerking a thumb at the picture, indicating Lisa Cuddy.

"Maybe." Wilson replied vaguely. "Thanks." He said gratefully. "You just cleared up a lot of questions."

"Glad to help." Tony replied wiping a cloth on a glass.

Wilson grinned. "Give me some bourbon." He said with a small smile, knowing that he had taken care of something. Stacy would handle the rest.

Part of him still wanted Lisa Cuddy for himself. But it was a very small part. He wanted her to be happy and he could clearly see who did that for her. He smiled to himself. Life was good.

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Madeline was not surprised when House followed Stacy into her office. She offered him a small professional smile with a firm handshake, beckoning him into a chair beside Stacy and across from her.

They discussed the case, his role, and his testimony. Rehearsed it time and time again and never once did his attention waver. The time for snide remarks and cynical comments was past. They had no time for it. In the attempt to catch the prosecution unprepared, they also had to hasten their own case. Cuddy and House were their star witnesses. The parents. Cuddy's image was tied to House's. House's was tied to Cuddy's much their how both their DNA was intertwined in Jesse.

One was not complete without the other. The single mom who worked more than she should would not win the case. The consistently sued doctor with more mouth than was good for him would not win the case. Two successful doctors with what the jury would see to be professional, caring, and protective would be what would win back Jesse.

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Cuddy awoke before the sun rose. For a moment she lay in the freezing cold, staring at the white ceiling above her, thoughts, pain, and fear churning in her chest. However, the small voice in her mind told her to get up and get ready. She obeyed.

With quick steps she performed her morning routines and then pulled on light pink collared shirt and buttoned it up, purposely leaving the top button unbuttoned. She knew she was going to court and she knew Tritter was looking for every mistake, but she refused to change herself. That would be acknowledging that in some ways he had control over her.

She slipped on black high heels that looked like a bitch to walk in, yet she pulled them off with grace and ease. She sat back on the bed and ran a brush through her thick black mane. Her thoughts traveled to the case. Her daughter. And then for some reason to House. She pushed the last from her mind. She needed to compose herself and remember everything Madeline and Stacy had taught her.

She tossed her hair to create volume and grabbed her purse. She was meeting Stacy and Madeline at the courthouse and she knew she would early. Probably by twenty minutes.

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The courtroom was already assembled by the time Stacy and Madeline finished rebriefing Cuddy. They walked in before her while she composed her grace, her mind, and her nerves.

A smile saved only for the one woman in his life that could change him.

When she strode in, however, no one knew that she had been on the brink of crying only minutes before. No one could tell because she strode in like she owned the place.

Lips pursed. Walk confident. She sneaked a glance at Tritter who looked back at her with a smirk on his face. She returned the look. What shined in her eyes was not an ounce of fear.

What made Tritter start to tremble was the fierce determination and fiery anger in her eyes that pierced through him and had him feeling like the situation was slipping from his fingers.

She took the seat beside Stacy and nodded slightly to her attorneys, letting them know she was okay. She was ready. 

What she did not see was a figure limping into the back of the courtroom and taking a seat in the very last row. His eyes watched the woman with dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes sitting in the defendant chair. She looked unafraid.

He knew Lisa Cuddy was no man's plaything, no matter what the situation. Knowing this, watching her, he felt a trace of a smile touch his lips, a smile full of love and pride.

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Author's Note: The next chapter will be the entire trial so it'll be extremely long. This one was leading up to it because it wouldn't make sense for House and Cuddy to fight and then for him to take the stand in the trial. I'm one of those anal people that can't help but feel the need to explain every detail and leave nothing up to assumption. Can't help it. Forgive me guys. Lol. So this is the final chapter leading up to the climax so please have patience. There will also be more House/Jesse interaction. That I promise. Thanks so much for reading guys! 


	17. Q and A

Chapter Seventeen

Q and A

Thanks to Shikabane-Mai, Boys Don't Cry, mj0621, thevigilante15, gabiroba, PaulaAbdulChica2007, EOshipperSVU-MSR-HUDDY, HouseAddiction, DrusillaBraun, BlkDiamond, CalleighWolfe, Huddytheultimate, RHSecretLove, HOUSEM.D.FanForever for their reviews. Y'all are awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to House. All characters and ideas belong to David Shore and respective owners under FOX.

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"Please introduce yourself to the court." Stacy began as she stood up, flashing Cuddy a reassuring smile.

She didn't need it. The hours of preparation had her ready. She felt ready, fierce.

"My name is Dr. Lisa Cuddy. I am a graduate from University of Michigan. I am currently the head of Cardiology at Mercy General Hospital in New York." She stated.

"Please describe your relationship to Jessica Alexis Cuddy."

"She is my daughter."

"Do you believe you can handle your job along with the responsibility of raising a child?" Stacy questioned.

Cuddy nodded. Her gaze shifted from her best friend and to the judge that were staring curiously at her. She already had them at appearance. A put together woman in a black suit with a light pink blouse underneath, sitting prim and proper with her legs tucked under the chair. She looked responsible. She looked professional.

"I may work overtime, especially sometimes late at night, but I always bring my work home with me and always come home in time to cook dinner and to tuck Jesse in at night." She answered, voice calm.

"So you put your daughter before your job?"

"Yes."

Stacy feigned a thoughtful expression. "Then I am curious as to why charges were brought before you?"

"Some cop has it out for me to testifying for a former colleague." Cuddy answered carelessly.

"Objection! Hearsay and relevance." The prosecutor, a sickly looking small man with too big glasses said, rising.

"Withdrawn." Stacy threw back without waiting for the judge to make a call. Her philosophy was that you could not unring a bell and she rung it.

"Anyway, back to your daughter Dr. Cuddy, what was she like as a child?"

"Objection! Relevance?"

This one, Stacy was going to argue. "I merely wanted to prove how much the witness knows about her daughter. Only then can Your Honor truly conclude whether or not she was there through the past unbringing of her only daughter and whether or not she will continue to be present and to raise the child in the future."

"Overruled."

Cuddy smiled, her eyes becoming distant. It was as if she was far away, reliving a pleasant memory locked in her mind.

"She is the sweetest child." She started. "All rosy and happy. The first day I took her home from the hospital. She was sleeping and it just looked so peaceful. Her eyes had been moving beneath her lids and all I could think was what would someone so new to the world dream about. I couldn't believe I had created that miracle."

Stacy smiled at her as she continued. "She has lungs. I'll be the first to admit that. She has lungs and she gets a lot of use out of them when she's upset, but I could always quiet her down. Her first word was calling for me. It was on a September night, a Friday. I had just gotten home from work and relieved the sitter. She was sleeping and when I came into the room to check on her, she just opened her eyes and said 'Mommy' and giggled like I was the best thing she had seen all day."

House watched her answer with watery eyes. He had never seen this side of her. She had told him how badly she wanted children, but never had he seen her talk like this. Her voice sounded so happy, content. Her eyes captured pure bliss as she spoke of the most precious aspect of her life.

He wanted her to always be like that. He loved seeing her angry, furious. He loved seeing her care, but to see her truly joyful was like witnessing the parting of the Red Sea. It was beyond beautiful. More than anything, he wanted to be the one to bring that to her eyes. He could bring her anger, tears, pain, but he wanted to bring her that bliss, to be the reason for it.

He wanted to hear his child talk, say her first word, but he knew that he deserved missing out on some parts of her life because of the price he had to pay for his mistakes. As unfair was it was, there had been no other way.

The questioning went on. Stacy painted a vivid picture of her background, her education, her credentials. And then it was the prosecution's turn.

"Dr. Cuddy." The prosecutor stated briefly. "Let me wish you congratulations on your job transfer."

Cuddy visibly stiffened as she caught whiff of the malice underlining his voice. "Thank you," she responded. The judge glanced at her. The warm tone of voice was gone and replaced with a hard icy voice with looks that shot daggers.

The prosecutor took a small step back, looking at Cuddy for a moment too long. He saw in her blue eyes that she had the personality of a woman who could face down lions barehanded.

"Dr. Cuddy, I'll get straight to the point."

"I pray that you will."

The prosecutor gave her a glare which she returned with a small smirk.

"Was there Vicodin in the apartment you were staying at during your stay at New Jersey?"

"Yes." She responded, knowing full well what road this was taking.

"Was your daughter also staying in this apartment?"

"Yes, but there was…"

"Thank you Dr. Cuddy." He cut her off. "Do you know that Vicodin is illegal unless prescribed by a doctor."

"Yes." She said. "I am a doctor, I do know that."

"Well then, why were you allowing your daughter to stay in an apartment with a man that had been charged with drug possession?"

A soft murmur ran through the crowd, especially from the people that had been completely fooled by Cuddy's appearance.

"Objection!" Stacy said, jumping to her feet.

"Order!" The judge called. "Sustained. The prosecution will not bring past cases into this trial."

The prosecutor shrugged. "Dr. Cuddy, what would happen if Jesse were to ingest one of those white pills? Would she suffer any lasting harm?"

"OBJECTION!" Stacy yelled. "Leading."

"Sustained, you are on thin ice, Counsel." The judge said.

"I'm sorry your Honor." He said. "I'll rephrase. What are the affects of Vicodin on a young child Doctor?"

"Overdose is likely." Cuddy answered bitterly. "Brain damage, coma, death. All very possible."

"So knowing the risks, you still allowed your child to be around that dangerous and harmful substance?"

"He's her father!" She burst out. "I was staying there because I had to! Not because I wanted to!"

"No further questions." He said, cutting her off again. She looked about ready to cry.

Wilson turned to glance at House, who sat in the back with a staring expression toward the front of the room. He looked distant. Wilson reached back and touched his arm. He came to.

"You okay?" He whispered.

"Yeah, it's nice to know she never wanted to really be with me. She had no other choice." He said, biting tone in his voice.

Wilson shook his head. "No, she loved you."

House didn't seem to hear. His attention was once again captured by what was going on in the witness stand as Stacy called redirect and approached Cuddy.

"Are you married, Dr. Cuddy?"

"No, I haven't had luck in the relationship department." She said, glancing in the direction of the judge.

"Then how did Jessica come to be?"

Cuddy took a deep breath. "I couldn't find someone that could handle my position of power or that I felt a connection to. But instincts told me it was time. So I decided that I could do it after thinking about it long and hard. I wanted to be prepared. Then I had invitro fertilization." She said. "Two didn't take. One I…" She hesitated there, the pain still great as she thought of the first child she could have had. Some instinct had told her it had been a boy.

"I lost." She finished. "Jesse was my last attempt."

"It must have been hard for you." Stacy said, her voice gentle.

"I have no regrets. The losses made me understand how precious a child is." She replied, her eyes casted downward.

"So it's safe to assume that because she is so precious and because you have failed so many times, then you would be very protective of your daughter?"

"Yes." Cuddy answered, before the prosecution could object.

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Her legs were shaky as she stepped down from the stand. Stacy went and helped her back to the seat where she sank down and began to cry. She felt like she had ruined her only chance to tell her side of the story.

Stacy put a comforting arm on her shoulder. "You did great."

"Don't lie."

Stacy sighed and sat down beside her. "It's going to be close. The minute the judge heard drugs and Vicodin, she may have condemned you."

Cuddy rubbed her face and smoothed back her hair. "I can't lose this one, Stacy. I just can't."

Stacy nodded and looked up just in time to see House slipping out of the courtroom.

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The social worker was beside herself. She was scared and worried. Samantha was young and she was new. She thought that taking care of a doctor's daughter would be a breeze, especially when Tritter told her that the girl had always behaved in her mother's presence.

She only wished that were true now. The child's cries had softened, but she refused to eat. She screamed the moment anyone came near and Samantha was starting to fear for her health. With no avail, she patted the baby's back and tried to quiet her. The screams grew louder.

More milk wound up on the baby's face and clothes than in her tiny mouth pursed together. With a sigh of regret and trying to keep herself from screaming herself, she grabbed her car keys and the child and pulled out of her garage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you doing here?" Chase asked as House limped past him into his office.

"You didn't move anything." He stated, peering at his desk before him, amazed.

"No, we were afraid of you sticking a cane down our throats." Foreman retorted.

House pulled open a drawer and started to dig around it.

"What are you looking for?" Chase asked. "And if Fisher sees you here, she'll have you arrested."

"She can't." House threw back. "I'm a patient."

Foreman rolled her eyes. "What's your condition?" he asked, hiding his gladness to see his boss behind business.

"I need my medical file. I rescued it from Cuddy's office when Voldemort moved in." He said, pulling out a thick file from the back of the drawer.

"Can I ask…?" Chase started.

"No." House cut him off and limped toward the door to slam into a young woman carrying an infant wrapped in a small blanket.

"Watch where you're…" he started and then his eyes caught on the wriggling and crying bundle, the soft wails tugging at this heartstrings.

The woman was in tears. "She won't eat. Won't sleep and won't stop crying." She sobbed. "I'm a social worker and I've trained for this, but she won't stop.

"Jesse…" He murmured softly, about to reach out and take the child but stopped himself and clenched his big hand into a fist.

"Chase." He ordered. "Get her to Pediatrics."

"She's your daughter." Chase said, taking the baby rather awkwardly.

"I can't touch her until the trial's been decided. Last thing I want is to end up in jail before the verdict. Tritter put a restraining charge on me." He explained impatiently. "Get her to Pediatrics and tell Burke that if anything happens to her, I will kill him with my bare hands."

Chase nodded and raced down the hall.

"I'm gonna follow him before he accidentally drops her." Foreman stated chasing after him.

House watched them go for a moment before turned the opposite direction toward the elevator and out of the hospital, leaving Samantha standing in front of his office, wringing her hands.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Your Honor, he should only be a few minutes." Madeline said, glancing around the courtroom from the corners of her eyes.

"Who?" Cuddy whispered to Stacy, who quickly put a finger to her lips.

"Was he properly notified of the time he should appear in court?"

Madeline hesitated, looking flustered for the first time in years. "Yes, but…"

"I'm here." Came a voice from the doorway.

Heads turned to focus on a figure limping into the courtroom and approaching the bench. Security guards moved their hands to their weapons.

"What's he doing here?" Cuddy hissed into Stacy's ear.

"Our secret weapon." Stacy replied. "That could still ultimately backfire."

Cuddy drew a sharp breath in, as she pursed her lips. An expression she had when she was worried or angry that things were not going as she had planned.

"Give him a chance. He could turn the tables for us." Stacy whispered.

Cuddy fell silent and sat back, purposefully not meeting House's eyes as she was sworn in and settled into the witness box.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What is your relationship to the child in question?" Madeline asked.

"I'm her father." He answered, no trace of any sarcasm in his voice.

He met Cuddy's eyes and she would never figure it out, but she felt reassured. With medical cases, she trusted him with it all, trusted him with her life, and suddenly she felt like she could relinquish that control into his hands once again. When his blue eyes met hers, she felt her shoulders loosen as if he had silently told her that she would be okay. With that reassurance, she let go of that control she had held tighter to her chest than a winning poker hand.

"Are you on any drugs?" Madeline asked bluntly. No use sugar coating the truth.

"Yes, Vicodin."

"Do you have a prescription?" She asked.

"Yes, I had an infarction in my leg. The pain is unbearable so I take it for the pain." He stated.

"Would you ever leave it out in the open?" Madeline continued.

"No of course not. I need those pills. If I lose them, then I have to deal with the pain." He answered, as if it were obvious.

"Let's move on." Madeline flashed him a half smile, telling him he was doing good.

He didn't return on, but moved his gaze past her back to Cuddy. To most, she would have appeared calm and untouchable, but he could see past that. Most people would see the ladylike way her hands were placed upon her lap, but not the way they clenched each other until her knuckles were as white as pearls. Most people would see the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she took each breath, but they would not see how fast each breath came with the too quick beating of her heart. He smiled, a smile reserved only for her, all traces of his sarcastic cynical self thrown into the wind and forgotten.

"Dr. Cuddy and Jessica have been staying at your apartment while Dr. Cuddy was in the hospital is that correct?"

"Yes."

"What was she like when interacting with her child?"

"She was incredible. I mean it was amazing." He spoke directly to Cuddy now, eyes meeting hers. "I'm a doctor, I've treated children, but none of the children were as responsive to their parents as Jesse was to her. She could quiet her down without any effort at all and it was as if she were psychic. Whenever Jesse cried, Lisa knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it without even a moment's hesitation."

She was going to cry. Hearing the one person that would never say those words speak them outloud was almost too much for her. House wasn't that kind of person. He never praised anyone. The nicest thing he had ever said to her was 'you are not an idiot'. That was the nicest thing she would have ever expected from him. Nothing along the lines of what he had just said. _Thank you_ she mouthed silently to him.

The questioning went on. First covering how Jesse was taken care of while Cuddy was in a hospital bed, the process in which Cuddy got pregnant, the role he played in it. Madeline did not paint a picture of a happy little family, but one as quirky and different as the people caught up in it. One that was real.

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"Dr. House, have you ever been charged with a crime?" The prosecution wasted no time in getting started.

He hesitated. "Yes."

"What crimes?" He asked, emphasizing the 's'.

House looked down before answering. "DUI in high school. Drug possession and distribution with intent to sell. Speeding."

"Do you think you deserve to be a father? With your record? With your drug charges? Do you think you deserve to be a father?" The prosecution demanded.

"Objection!" Madeline yelled. "Badgering!"

"Sustained, watch your step Counsel." The judge ordered.

House was looking down at the floor by now and Cuddy was almost shaking. Wilson clasped his hand in hers and tried to calm her down, give her the reassurance she so desperately needed.

"Dr. House, were you recently fired from the hospital where you work?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

House couldn't resist. His moment of civil behavior was over and he was glad it was. He would have given the world to protect Cuddy and it was easy when he was talking about her to be civil and nice, but when it came to Fisher, he couldn't contain himself.

"Because she's an idiot." He started. The prosecution opened their mouth, but he surged forward. "She's a complete moron and she'll cost hundreds of patients their lives with the way she's been running the hospital. Medicine is all about risks. You try to prevent as many as you can, but real diseases won't obey polite coaxing not to kill a person. Every treatment is a risk and some are riskier than others. She's a coward, afraid to get sued, holding back on treatments, she doesn't even know her stuff."

"Thank you Dr. House." The prosecution started again.

"Cuddy was much better as a Dean, at least she knew where to draw the line between lives and money. Fisher doesn't see that boundary. She fired him because I told her so, because I wanted to save my patient and she didn't think my patient's life was worth a couple of dollars. She is a crazy ass bitch and fucking lunatic!"

"THANK YOU DR.HOUSE." The prosecution said raising his voice.

The judge turned to House. "I will not have that kind of language in my courtroom. Any more profanity out of you, Dr. House and you will be contempt."

He was breathing hard when he shut his mouth and the looked at Cuddy with an apologetic look. He hadn't meant to say so much, hadn't meant to make himself look like a spiteful doctor. What he didn't know was that no one thought that. Wilson was looking back on the patients that had died. Cuddy was regretting leaving PPTH.

Alex stood up from the back of the courtroom, startling everyone. What was the ADA doing there? Without a word she stormed out of the room and shut the door firmly before her.

The courtroom returned to routine. Endless questions, violating House's privacy, trying his best to dodge questions that could harm the case.

"Redirect Your Honor." Stacy said, looking up from her place beside Madeline.

"Let me bring you back to your criminal record. Dr. House how many charges have you actually been indicted on?"

"Just the DUI and the speeding. The others were dropped."

'Because the Judge saw a vengeful cop instead of an actual case right?"

"Objection!" The prosecution yelled.

"Withdrawn." She stated with a smirk in their direction. "Thank you Dr. House."

He stepped down from the witness stand and limped to the back of the room, only hesitating a moment as he passed the row Cuddy was sitting in, with her hand still clasped in Wilson's. Wilson glanced at him, but he shook his head. He knew Cuddy was probably still at least a little bit angry at him. In time she would forgive him, but not so fast. It'll take a little while before she'll forgive him for screwing up as big as he did.

He watched the back of her head as Wilson testified followed by Tritter and various other witnesses. He was hoping for some sign that she had forgiven him for the pain he caused her. She never gave him that sign. He kept holding out, however, never doubting that it would come.

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"I'll return in about ten minutes with my decision." The judge stated, retreating to her chambers.

Stacy moved to sit beside Cuddy, and replacing Wilson while Wilson and Madeline came to House. No one said a word. House debated telling Cuddy that Jesse was in the hospital, but decided against it. She was already terrified, hearing such news will cause some sort of break in her and he didn't want to risk it. He would tell her when the verdict was out, if it was in their favor.

The seconds ticked by as if hours, years, decades. For once in his life, doing nothing didn't bore House. He sat there and stared. She did the same as she closed her eyes in a prayer, falling back on her Jewish roots. He was not religious, didn't believe in God, but now he turned his eyes upward, for the first time without contempt.

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Author's Note:

Okay, that was incredibly long. I'm still hoping everyone had the patience to read through it. Thank you so much for reading. This story is coming to a close with only a few chapters left. I hope everyone liked it so far. Thanks again.


	18. A Proposal and a Rejection

Chapter Eighteen

A Proposal and A Rejection

Thanks to RHSecretLove, DrusillaBraun, PaulaAbdulChica2007, CalleighWolfe, Boys Don't Cry, HouseAddiction, Huddytheultimate, starstacey, HOUSEM.D.FanForever, gabiroba, mj0621, BlkDiamond, SavvyKitten, and Shikabane-Mai for their reviews.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to House. I only mess with their characters' lives and at times badly.

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"Dr. Cuddy please rise." The judge started.

Cuddy sprang to her feet and then steadied herself on Stacy and Madeline. House looked up with eyes filled with plain fear and worry. Wilson gripped his arm to keep him from running to Cuddy.

"I find that Dr. Cuddy has done nothing wrong in raising her child. She obviously loves her child and takes care of her responsibly, and with lots of care and love." The judge said with a small smile in her direction.

Cuddy felt the tears come in warm rushes and she had never been so happy to allow them to flow. A smile lit up her face where worry had darken and paled it. She was beautiful, radiant, and joyous. "Thank you." She wept.

House limped toward her, wanting to speak to her, to apologize, beg for forgiveness, anything to make her forgive him one more time, like all the other times she had.

"Dr. House." The judge started, focusing a steady gaze on him. He looked at her with a surprised expression on his face.

"You will control you use of Vicodin. Judging by your testimony you are obviously in pain and need them, but you will control how much you drink and take them. Your role in raising your daughter will solely be in the hands of Dr. Cuddy."

House nodded and looked at Cuddy who looked back at him with an expression that broke his heart. Happiness mixed with rage, relief mixed with fear. He looked away.

"Ms. Cabot." The judge now addressed. Heads whirled to see a slim blonde woman rise to her feet. "Detective Tritter has brought a groundless case before me. A case completely out of his area. I suggest you do a thorough background check of his past cases before investigating him for abuse of power. If he brings another groundless case based on petty revenge into my courtroom, I will find him in contempt and investigate why you did not prevent it."

She nodded, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "It would be my pleasure."

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Outside the courthouse, Cuddy demanded to see her daughter and House could no longer put off giving her the news that would bring her grief so soon after her moment of relief and joy.

"She's in the hospital." House said.

Cuddy whirled on him with an expression so filled with fear and rage that he stumbled back, as if the force of her gaze was enough to push him. This was a woman who could face down lions barehanded and her stormy blue eyes radiated a fury so ferocious House wondered if the mere power of her eyes was enough to stop armies.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She screamed at him, raging, her previous hurt created by him still unhealed.

"I told him not to." Wilson stated, coming up behind him. "I was afraid you would lose it if you knew before trial was over."

She glared at him. Her prejudice, however, kept her from jumping down his throat like she had done House's. He was the logical one. The one who was well adjusted and stable. She trusted him in ways that she did not trust House, even when she disagreed with him.

"I'll drive you." Stacy volunteered, motioning for House to join them. He did and they raced to PPTH without a single word. The silence speaking volumes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"She's okay. Just malnourished. The social worker is in the lobby." Dr. Faber of Pediatrics said.

Cuddy breathed a sigh of relief as she enclosed her former employee with a hug. "Thank you." She murmured.

"Anything for you, Dr. Cuddy. Can I ask if you're coming back? That Fisher is a bad one." He said.

Cuddy looked at her feet. "I'm sorry I can't." She answered.

He shrugged. "I'm taking a job elsewhere then. I can't stand her treatment plans."

She was about to answer, but her gaze moved past him to the woman who had just appeared in the doorway.

"Dr. Cuddy?" She quivered. "I'm Jennifer. I'm your daughter's social worker. I just got the call that you won the case."

Cuddy took a step toward the younger woman, foreboding and angry. "You're the one that got her into this condition? You moron! How dare you treat her with such little responsibility?" She screeched at her. Angry enough to fight, kill, anything to protect her young.

Jennifer was shaking in her skin. "I'm sorry. It's just she wouldn't stop crying." She burst into tears.

Cuddy took a step back, breathing hard. House kept his distance. He knew Jennifer had meant no harm, but this was his baby they were talking about. His child. Any harm coming too her was intolerable and anyone who had hurt her deserved a death sentence no matter how innocent.

The doctor poked his head out of the room. "You can see her."

By the time he finished his sentence, Cuddy had already pushed past him and had her child cradled in her arms. House followed, giving the pediatrician a nod of thanks, something he never did. The surprise was evident in the other doctor's face.

He leaned in the doorway and watched her. She was crying through her smile, as she kissed her baby's forehead and snuggled her close. She laughed when Jesse grabbed a fistful of her dark hair and giggled. Her blue eyes were radiant, sparkling with unguarded joy. He started to limp away. Jesse had his DNA, but Cuddy was the one that had raised her. Taught her her first words, taught her how to smile, fed her, changed her diapers, comforted her when she cried at night. Cuddy was her parent. House was not.

"House." Cuddy called before he could take a step.

He spun around and was captured by her gaze within a split second.

"Come here, hold her. She's yours too." She said with a smile.

House didn't need to be told twice. He took the invitation without any hesitation and was soon fussing over his child just like Cuddy was. She watched him closely. He had changed. In the short time that they had been together, he had changed. Still as snarky as ever. Still as clever as ever, but now there was a softness to it. Like Jesse had taken the edge off and only left his personality without the bitterness. Like he had been in college, before life had taken its toll on both of them and how they ran blindly in every wrong direction before crashing back into each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Things had quieted down when Wilson slipped into the room. Cuddy was sitting in a chair with her head on House's shoulder while he softly snored. Their baby in a crib before them. She lifted her head when he came in. House kept sleeping.

"He's exhausted." She whispered.

Wilson nodded. "The board of directors want to speak to you."

She looked at him with a look on her face that told him that she was less than content to speak to the people who were once her colleagues, whom she once leaded before House's mistakes caved in on her. However, that look was quickly replaced with one of set fearlessness. The board could criticized her all they liked, her decisions, her romantic involvement with House right down to her child and she would not let it affect her, or how good she thought her life was.

She followed him to the oversized conference room that used to be what House had once called her 'court' with her as queen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She sat down facing the board as Wilson sat down across from her, in his usual place. Fisher was not there, so her former chair was empty.

Wilson decided to start because it was already obvious that most of the member were feeling ill at ease at facing their former Head of Administration rather than sitting beside her, one side.

"The board has been alerted to some abuse of power and failure to properly perform tasks on the part of Dr. Fisher, current Dean of Medicine. It has been noted that you were her former intern after graduating medical school and performed the first year of your residency under her wing."

"You want dirt on her." Cuddy concluded without need for further explanation.

"Not dirt necessarily." One bolder member that Cuddy remembered as Thomas spoke up. "We'd like to either find these charges groundless or ask her to resign her position because we cannot afford for our patient causality numbers to rise nor can we spare the loss of anymore doctors."

"What was she like during your residency?" Wilson asked.

Cuddy leaned back and let out her breath, not even aware she had been holding it. "She was overbearing. She talked more than she treated and was always convinced she was right."

The board was listening quietly, making it much too easy for Cuddy to painfully relive the details of her past. A period of time she wanted to forget, the mistake she made, the life she had cost.

"We had a patient that had an array of symptoms. She concluded that it had to be one disease and coincidences didn't occur. I thought differently. I thought we should split the symptoms and treat the possible two condition separately. She shot me down."

Cuddy swallowed hard, trying to keep herself professional, objective, everything she had taught herself during her days as Dean.

"The patient died less than a week later and upon autopsy it was found that my diagnosis was right. Fisher told me otherwise. She had said that because I had delayed her treatment with an unfounded diagnosis of my own and that caused the patient's death." Cuddy said bitterly. "I only found out about the actual autopsy at the end of my residency through the coroner's report."

The board exchanged glances with each other. Cuddy's words rang in all their ears and their decision was confirmed. They nodded to her and she knew it was her dismissal. _That was new_ she thought with a slight mirthless smirk. Now she knew how House felt every time she told him to get out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

House was telling Jesse that Chase was her puppy and she could ordered him to sit whenever she wanted because Chase had no backbone when Cuddy came back into the room. Cuddy motioned at the door to Chase, clearly giving him the order to get out. He obeyed out of habit.

"Where were you?" House asked the moment he saw her.

"Board wanted to talk to me." She responded and relieved him of his burden.

He stroked her hair and looked at her a look in his eyes that frightened as much as it warmed her.

"I'm tired of this." He whispered softly. "I'm tired of needing to be a bastard just to keep myself from kissing you. We had one weekend together. One weekend where we relived our past feelings. I don't want it to only be one weekend. I want it to be forever."

His words were completely unlike himself. Cuddy knew it. She never believed that House was unable to love or feel, but she knew that he was incapable of saying such a speech without rehearsing and preparation. What he was saying was not what she wanted to hear. She already knew how he felt. His words didn't matter to her. Before she could call him on it, however, he heaved himself out of his chair and went down on one knee, forcing himself not to show the pain that shot up his leg as he did so. "Lisa, will you marry me?"

Cuddy sat there for a moment, shocked and frozen in place. A prepared speech for her, she had been ready for. Something along the lines of a proposal, never. Then a look of comprehension dawned on her porcelain face.

"No." She answered. "No I won't."

House slumped, his eyes dropping to the floor as sign of his defeat. He had done everything right. Cuddy was still a woman. She wanted a family. She wanted things that she grew up dreaming about before her path was consumed by her career. He was offering all those things to her, against his better judgment. It would been all worth it to make her stay.

She placed her daughter back into the crib and took him by the hands, pulling him up, knowing the physical pain he was feeling alongside his emotional one. He had kept himself at a distance from people for so long, she knew he didn't know how to come back and was feeling his way around now, using methods that were cliché because they had worked for other people. She knew him more than he knew himself.

"No, because you don't want to get married. Not yet at least." She told him.

"I asked you to marry me didn't I? That usually means I want to." He threw back, hiding his pain and slight embarrassment between comments spoken in a tone of voice filled with such bitter resentment that it made her want to slap him.

"No, you don't. You just don't want me to go back to New York. Wilson tells you to do whatever necessary to make me stay because the minute I leave he's convinced I won't come back. You are too." She concluded.

House was silent. She had hit a nerve, the bull's eye. Dead on target. They had had that talk, him and Wilson. Wilson hadn't exactly told House to ask her for her hand in marriage, but he had been at a loss for ideas, for some reason, simply telling her he loved her didn't seem to be enough.

"You figure, I marry you. I can't leave. You know I want to get married, have that perfect family and you figure that if you give me that I won't turn my back on you." She finished.

Then she shook her head. "You are a manipulative bastard." She told him.

He looked away, biting his lip, his hand tightening around his cane until his fingers were white at the knuckles. She touched his face and he looked up, surprised to see her smiling.

"But I love you House. I just couldn't let you ruin Jesse's life or mine. Today, though, you saved us. You rode in one that big white limping horse and pulled us right out of Tritter's claws." She told him. "For that I know I can trust you to be there and I won't walk away from that."

Hearing those words, he pulled her into his arms and she buried her face into his shoulder, taking in his scent, one she had memorized. They kissed passionately, for a moment, forgetting the presence of a child, but they needn't have worried. Jesse was already fast asleep, worn out by lessons on how to become a world dictator. They pulled apart and looked at each other, smiles filling both their faces.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"Walk a little straighter, House." She whispered, moving around to peer down at their sleeping daughter.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his head on her shoulder and looking down at Jesse as well. "Hm?"

"Walk a little straighter, Greg. You're leading her."

_Walk a little straighter daddy  
You're swaying side to side  
You're footsteps make me dizzy  
And no matter how I try  
I keep tripping and stumbling  
if you'd look down here you'd see  
Walk a little straighter daddy  
You're leading me_

-Fin-

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Author's Note:

There will be an epilogue after this to sum it all up. It'll be a little more light hearted than this story's been. I hope you liked it. Sorry the ending was a little cliché and corny and fluffy. And yes I know the characters were a little not themselves, but I haven't actually seen House in a scene like this, so I'm not sure how he would react. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
